Wonder Years
by Sultry Sweet
Summary: An AU piece I decided to work on that won't get in the way of my other stories. Everyone except Grissom, a TA at a college, is in high school. Cath/Sara pairing eventually
1. Chapter 1

**_Okay, I have to admit this AU fic was an idea I had been thinking about for a while, but I'm not sure where it's headed so I thought I could maybe just post it and find out as I go along. I think once I really start getting into the story a little more I can plan an ending. :) Enjoy. _**

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Catherine Willows: cheer captain, hottest senior to roam the campus and dating quarterback point guard Warrick Brown. Long, red hair down her back with stunning blue eyes that spoke volumes to even those less fortunate to talk to her. She seemed happy and had everything from the hottest outfits to the latest car she was parking in the best space available for senior parking. She had plenty of friends from more than her personal clique, but those that were nerds were only close enough to help her if she needed it and in return they would get to talk to her for at least a few seconds about the things they knew best.

Sara Sidle: one of the nerds Catherine knew, though with an unspoken closeness that couldn't be denied. She had somewhat long brunette locks flowing down to her breasts and stopping before her ribs. She was the cutest nerd any had seen and yet she was no social butterfly within her clique. She was extremely antisocial, but she did have a limited amount of friends. She was a junior that could slip through the cracks without anyone noticing and she felt like that most every day, but there was an upside to her life: she new a T.A. at the college of her choice.

Gil Grissom: T.A. with electric blue eyes to match Catherine's though they had never met. He was blisteringly intelligent and the kindest person if you took the time to get close to the bear. He was sensitive, but usually only scientific, impersonal and distant in his own way. His emotional cut off was his only real downfall, but that would be enough to off put the many he already had made turn around and think twice. The kind of people that didn't take too warmly to him without connections through another person that knew him were punks.

Greg Sanders: a rebel punk if there ever was one and a lowly freshman. His connection to the 'big man' was the darling geek, Sara. Truth be told, he had a bit of a crush on her, but she seemed interested in other things. He couldn't say she had her on Grissom because she seemed to think it wouldn't work between the two of them, but he did notice a certain fascination with Mr. Dependable.

Nick Stokes: friendly and trustworthy junior that never even knew Sara existed. He was cute and she had a thing for guys who she knew would be there for her and help her to her feet if she were to ever take a little stumble. He was kind and reliable and Sara hated how some guys thought to pick on him for being so nice. He had never broken a promise to anyone and whenever some jerk played a little prank on him or teased him for being a true gentleman, he smiled, shared a little laugh with the guys and brushed it off his shoulders like it was no big deal. His entire personality had Sara feeling warm inside, her heart feeling as though it was on her sleeve twenty-four seven.

Warrick Brown: another junior to Catherine's loathing. She usually didn't like younger men because of the way it made her feel, but Warrick was different. When she really got to know him, he was everything she was looking for in a boyfriend. He was the stud most girls would only be jealous about not taking the time to hear him out if he was on some other girl's arm. When he was single, no girl in the school wanted to be his, but once Catherine scooped him up and claimed him the best kept secret for only her to enjoy, the others got painfully jealous and thought twice about thinking he was goofy and unappealing in his ways.

Lunch that day hadn't started out unusual, but as the time passed it got to be a meet and greet between the five science lovers. Sara and Greg sat munching on their hot plates in the grass under a giant oak tree they had been enjoying all year. It was peaceful as the afternoon breeze refreshed the couple.

"So, what's up with you lately," Greg asked Sara before he shoved another bite of turkey into his mouth.

"What do you mean," Sara tried to act as though she had no idea her spirits seemed a bit broken the past week.

"What I mean is, you seem less like the Sara who's up for anything and more like the timid Sara who's having issues at home and doesn't want to talk about it."

"Well, Greg, if you know that I don't want to talk about it…why the hell are you asking?" Sara played with her food, occasionally looking up and around to see classmates passing with glows about them and flaunted smiles.

"I care about you, Sara, and even though you don't want to talk about it…it's better you do! So tell me…what's going on?"

Sara sighed and set her food down on the grass in front of her as opposed to in her lap as it had been for a majority of the meal. She leaned back against the tree to pull up her shirt, revealing a large bruise and cut from what appeared to be car keys, diagonally stretching across the left side of her rib cage.

"Oh my god, Sara! Are you going to report them? You can seriously be thinking about staying with this family after that!" Greg's eyes widened and he violently shot his finger to point at the mark left behind from her foster parents abuse.

"But if I go back to the orphanage, the chances of me getting another family are slim and…who knows, I might have to transfer to a different school." Sara frowned and straightened herself out, pulling down her shirt before anyone saw. "I know you wanting me to live differently is you being a good friend, but…could you maybe not care so much so we can still hang out? I don't want to have to go back to the way things were before I moved in with the Johnson's. Please promise me you won't tell on them, Greg!"

Hesitantly, the dark brown, almost black, tease haired 'fish' answer with a nod and a weary, "Fine, but I swear if they try anything else…"

She cut him off by gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know, Greg, you'll get someone to bust their asses in."

Her smile was infectious and he shook his head. "No, I'll fuck them up so bad they won't even know I kicked the shit out of 'em."

His grin was that of the devil, but the protection he guaranteed her was something unmistakable and unforgettable. She loved how he cared and he never forgot to utter those three words Sara had lost hope on through her rough past until she met the spunky charmer.

"I love you," he smiled and took her hand in his, leaning over and placing a sweet kiss on her left temple.

"I love you, Greg, my long lost beautiful brother," they shared a low laugh at the expense of the joke. Things seemed as sunny as their surroundings. The lush green and the warming sun was something Sara never wanted to forget and with Greg as her best friend, she knew he would never let her think about anything else ever again.

Sara focused her attention on the crowd passing her and Greg by, noticing Nick and his close friend, best friend, Warrick heading to their table in the sun with their plates. It seemed they were so close they never went anywhere without each other.

Sara smiled and say the 'Queen Bee' and her unimportant 'worker bees' swarming over to Nick and Warrick only to be with tall, dark and handsome for Catherine's sake. She envied the life Catherine put on display. It was one of painless encounters and plenty of people to support and love you. Sara had never had that in her life except for Greg, of course, but never blood relatives caring so much as Catherine's mother appeared.

Her life on the surface seemed flawless, but Warrick being so close knew that wasn't the story. Her mother was arm candy for some mystery man of Vegas and was of course a nice and good mother, but usually never home. Catherine's younger sister, Nancy, became Catherine's concern when she got home and with college less than a year away, she was happier with an extra bounce in her step.

"What do you say we crash the party," Greg joyfully suggested to Sara, mischievously raising his eyebrows.

"I couldn't do that, Greg, I mean…not to Nick or his friend." She was more than happy to attack Little Miss Perfect and her posse, but Nick was another story. He was too sweet for her to mess with and any friend of his was equally okay in her book.

"Then maybe we could be a little anti-Catherine," he persisted, continuing to grin.

Sara finally grew the same grin and started getting to her feet, slapping Greg's arm with the back of her hand as she stood. "Come on, let's do it."

Greg smiled, stifling a laugh, and ran towards the jubilantly jogging brunette. He loved it when she let loose and had fun. He didn't like her being too shy and she needed to vent somehow if she wasn't going to do the right thing and get herself out of dangerous situations.

Sara ran right up to the table and launched herself onto the top of it, being careful even through her rapid actions not to spill the food and waited for Greg to cue the music. She looked insane in her black, stripped at the shoulders, hem and midriff shirt that read: If the music's too loud, you're too old, in dark red, dripping letters and a haunting font.

Her jeans by definition were skinny jeans but she made modifications. The ends of said jeans were folded over to make them shorter and also revealed her entire shoe on either foot. Her shoes were standing out against the black she covered herself in, as they were light blue Chuck Taylor high tops. Her hair cascaded around her face and she grinned, releasing a breath that made a few strands of hair on either side of her face move in the direction of Catherine. Sara looked straight down at her before she heard one of her favorite songs blast through the speakers of Greg's almost always-handy boom box.

Immediately, she began to bang her head to the beat and smiled thinking about how crazy she must have looked. She let the words fill her head and waited for the speed to pick up for her to jump around. She jolted her body in sync with the punk styling.

'_Sinister Rouge coming back for more_

_Sinister Rouge to even the score'_

She jumped once on the table and flipped off it, baffling Catherine. Sara had the audacity that she had never noticed before that she wished she had seen earlier. She stared at Sara dance slash jolt and head bang to her music toward Greg. She looked content with herself and definitely not as timid as Catherine had pegged her to be when they first met at the computer lab over an assignment.

Although the song was hardly two minutes long, the principal caught the act and sternly made his way over to the rebel without a cause. He looked angry, but Sara had seen worse. She was certainly not afraid of a little fly like him and she never had been. She tried to hold in her anger though because the principal she was facing down with flames erupting from his ears and the flaring nostrils that were completely unattractive would have no problem calling Sara's foster parents. When they heard about her tiny outburst, they wouldn't be pleased and Sara was on the losing end of that situation. Of course, Principal Pollack had no clue as to what went on at the Johnson's house nor would she tell him, so she remained a beaten girl.

"Ms. Sidle, what the hell were you doing up there, dancing like a drunken fool," he bitterly asked through gritted teeth.

"Nothing, sir, I was just acting out again." She acted as though she were in a boot camp though she was calm and collected. He hated when she responded like that.

"Nice to know someone's finally gotten through to you, Sidle. Keep it up and I'm going to have to do more than call home."

_What home? It's no fucking walk in the park or a Sunday brunch fag! You go to that place and you live in it for three days, see what it's like! Then you tell me, you arrogant bastard, is it a home!?_

She knew she couldn't say that, but it would definitely good if she could. Instead she grinded her teeth for a quick second and refrained from giving Principal Pollack an evil glare stating, "I've heard it all before and you know if I cared even the tiniest bit I wouldn't still be running around here like a chicken with it's head cut off."

The anger inside her didn't come dripping out in her voice thankfully, but she knew how to sugar coat the sentence with dribbles of information that she was in summation to plenty of authority figures: a hood rat. He knew that about her as well, but it wasn't something he admired. It was one of the many things that he loathed about her character.

"Come with me to my office and we'll get a hold of those parents of yours," he lifted his finger and curled it toward himself in a come hither manner. She rolled her eyes and sighed. She took one look in Greg's direction and saw how he wanted to go with her in his eyes. He could only shrug and mouth a 'good luck' as she followed the principal inside the facility.

--

"Hey, Sara, what's…wrong," Greg greeted his best friend, concern written all over his face.

"Nothing," Sara quietly answered, not looking her best for the day. She appeared defeated and tired. The bags under her eyes demonstrated how much sleep she had gotten the previous night and it didn't look too promising.

Greg was worried beyond belief. He had no idea what went on at Sara's place, but he could take only one good guess. And the fact that Sara didn't want to talk about it only made him more curious as to how bad it was. He tried to stop her by pulling her back, yanking at her forearm, but Sara shuddered and attempted to run away with fear. Greg instantly let her go and she fell to the ground with the saddest and most terrified eyes he had ever seen.

Her shirt had rode up in all the chaos and Greg took a quick glance over the burn mark and multiple slashes to her body. He then took the time to scan over her arms and could see bruises popping up and finally claiming her body as their home. He dropped his jaw and widened his eyes at the sight.

When Sara noted his expression, she shot her hand over the hem of her shirt and pulled it down in a hurry to cover the damage. She got up with hesitation and pain bolting through her body from the night's torture session and brushed off the dirt from her jeans.

"I told you…if they tried anything else I was going to fuck them up," Greg's fury set in and made itself known.

"No, Greg…please…don't? You think you can take it, but it's not your battle and they're hardcore, so…do me a favor and don't get involved."

Greg snapped his mouth shut and held back the angry tears he wanted to shed for her, but he knew he had lost the argument already. He looked around for other people who might have seen. No one seemed too worried about the two of them and just in time the first bell of the day rang.

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**_Let me know if you like it so far. :) I have a second chapter waiting already if you do. :) Review and I'll be nice to give you more. ;)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Here's what you asked for like I said I had finished. Enjoy this chapter as well. :)_**

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Greg couldn't help but nervously swing and pump his foot to the tile on the classroom floor, his fingers joining his leg movements on the desk. He could only think about Sara and the beating she dealt with while he slept peacefully, dreaming of running off with her to the place of their dreams, starting a family and everything happy and beside the point.

He still half and hour on the clock before his first class of the day with Sara, second period. He couldn't contain himself and had to see her soon or it would kill him. He wanted to know she was truly okay and wanted to know if there was anything he could do so he could jump right to it so the lanky brunette wouldn't have to worry any longer.

Sara tapped the eraser end of her pencil against her notebook paper, the spiral opened to a clean sheet for her to express herself. She had nothing written for the day, but collectively she had a tragic life mustered onto thirty-two lines of lonely. She needed something to keep her sane and Greg was only one person. She didn't want him to handle all her problems and take them on like burdens of his own.

She searched the room for a good inspiration opposed to the dark and drained ideas filling her creative mind. Her eyes settled on the red head as she passed the classroom slowly, accidentally locking eyes with the junior. Sara smiled, leaving Catherine to grin and flirtatiously wave. Sara absent-mindedly bit her bottom lip and threw her head down to focus on the clean sheet of notebook paper out on her desk.

Catherine continued to walk past the room with her friend who had gotten her out of class as a page for the front office. Though there was nothing more than a note for the senior, her friend had other things in mind.

They headed toward the football field and fell back against the support beams under the bleachers. Catherine pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse and handed one to her friend who provided the lighter.

"So…are you going to just tell me about this girl who decided to do a table dance in spite of you or am I going to have to verbally attack it out of you," her friend asked as took a long drag from her cigarette.

Catherine laughed and shook her head. "What's there to talk about? She and I hardly talk. The only time I've ever been 'graced with her presence' was when I needed help with that English assignment. And damn is she extremely smart!"

"Uh huh," her friend raised her eyebrows, eyes growing wide at knowing Catherine was in denial and it was obvious what she was up to with the younger girl.

"Shut up, Lisa," Catherine tried to shrug off her friend before she placed the cigarette back in her mouth. "We should get back to class soon. We've been out for almost twenty minutes now and if Sam finds out I've been skipping…"

"What do you mean if _Sam _finds out," Lisa asked, curious as to who the man was she was mentioning.

"Sam, my mom's shitty casino owning boyfriend," she confided in her best friend.

"And…does Warrick know about him," Lisa wondered.

"He knows everything. How I feel about Sam hanging around my mother like he can get anything he wants from her and knowing she would do it in a heartbeat, how many times he stops by to whisk my mother away, the fact that I always call him over to keep me company while I look after Nancy for her…everything!"

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I just…I didn't want to talk about it. Warrick was over one time when Sam stopped by and that's the only reason why he knows anything. Plus, I realized he's really cool about it so I started to open up and…it felt really nice to talk about it with someone I can trust."

"So…you can't trust me?"

"Please, Lisa, of course I can trust you, but…I liked having one thing to just Warrick and me. Do you understand?"

Lisa sighed and nodded, knowing exactly what the red head meant. The black haired girl stated, "I'm sorry I nearly got into it with you and briefly ended our friendship."

Catherine knew she sounded incredibly like something out of a textbook for a reason and laughed at how Lisa admitted, rudely and unbelievingly so, what adults would want her to accept about her adolencense. After all, her mother was a shrink.

--

Lunch had fast approached and Greg had gotten absolutely nothing out of Sara about her night, although by the time he got to see the brunette again she seemed happier.

Sara sat under the tree with him again, the principal eyeing them closely as they tried to eat. Sara wasn't interested in having anything that lunch which wasn't weird since she tended to be too busy or too focused to care about food, so Greg didn't worry. She was at ease as she let her words flow and he had to wonder what about she was devoting her precious time.

"What'cha writin' about," he tried to ask, interested to the fullest extent.

"Nothing that concerns you, Greg," she answered a bit distracted, not looking up from her work.

Greg cut his losses and peered around, noticing Nick walking in their direction, his eyes trained on Sara. He wasn't sure if Nick was actually going to settle down at a table near by the two, but he seemed decided on being next to Sara.

"Hey," he greeted as he made way to sit down across from the dedicated Sara.

She finished her sentence in her story and looked up to be met with wild hazel eyes and the kindest smile. His accent was luscious and fit him to a T. She smiled back and closed her notebook, sliding the pencil in the spirals at the top end of the binding.

"Hey," she happily answered.

"Are you not going to eat today," he asked, motioning to her empty lap.

She looked down and frowned for a split second. "Oh, well, I was going to, but then…I got inspired for a story."

"Ah," he answered as though he understood her from experience. "Well, I'll share some of my food with you if you'd like. I think the lines are closed so…I'm not so sure you can go and get your own plate."

"Oh, um, thanks. I'd like that," she smiled like a girl with a crush.

_Am I being too obvious?_

"Uh, excuse me, _pal, _but she can share my food thank you very much," Greg chided in with a passion, trying to keep Sara all to himself.

"Greg, don't be an idiot," she muttered through gritted teeth, giving him the "I'll kill you" glare.

Greg instantly shut up and focused his attention on Warrick, who had fallen behind Nick in order to catch up with Catherine, his beloved girlfriend. He thought about it and realized lunch would be interesting if the couple were to come over and join Nick, in turn joining Sara. After what happened the day before, it should make things fun under the tree as it was earlier that school year.

"Hey, Nick, what happened to our usual table," Warrick walked up behind his friend, Catherine hanging casually on his arm.

"Hey, you're that girl from the table yesterday," Catherine piped up with wide eyes and a smile that made Sara want to jump the red head in an alley with no witnesses to her death.

"Yeah, that would be me. Is…is that why you're here," Sara asked Nick, hoping it wasn't because of the bouncing around.

"Well, yeah, but not because I'm mad at you. I thought it was cool the way you stuck it to the man, so to speak," he lightly laughed at his own joke, Sara joining him.

Greg motioned for Warrick to get comfortable, the dreamy guy sliding his arm free from Catherine's arm adjoined and sat down across from Greg. No one seemed to notice Catherine at that point, she had become irrelevant and though she didn't always show it, that made her feel like an outcast.

She was out of place and was about to slip away when Sara flagged her over, patting the spot between her and Greg in line with the tree trunk. Catherine smiled, grateful to be welcome among the entire group and took her place among the five of them.

Sara couldn't explain it, but even though she had a strong liking toward Nick, she had an undeniable attraction to Catherine. She made sure the red head sat close to her only to revel in the scent of the luminous locks flowing down her back and swinging side by side as she swayed her hips, walking.

"You smoke," Catherine asked Sara, pulling the taller teenager from her haze.

"Oh, um, yeah," Sara tried to laugh out the answer, knowing Greg was ready to reject the fact.

"What? I thought you said you quit," Greg asked with concern and disappointment.

"Yeah, well, I tried, but it didn't really work out that way," Sara nervously picked at her cuticles.

"No, shit!" Catherine was a little too excited for that conversation, everyone in the group had to stare at her like she was insane. "I smoke the same brand."

Her explanation was one that involved her to avert her eyes to the green grass beneath her. Sara tried to hide her laugh as she had found Catherine incredibly adorable at that moment.

"Want to ditch this place and light up, then? I've been dying for one all day," Sara begged with her body language and eyes though her words didn't convey all the passion she had through everything else.

"Um, sure, I mean, I just had a smoke about half an hour ago…but yeah, I'd like that," she smiled, handing over her plate to Warrick who didn't let the flirting between his girlfriend and Sara go unnoticed in his striking eyes.

"Wait, Sara," Greg pleaded, outstretching himself on the ground, but not getting up to follow after the two as they started for the other end of the cafeteria. "You should at least _something _to eat before you go."

"Thanks, _mom_, but I'll be fine. Plus, anything I eat now will just lose all taste by the time I stick the cigarette in my mouth." Sara laughed as she naturally took Catherine's hand in hers as they made their way far from the group.

Catherine had taken her to the football fields, under the bleachers like she had with Lisa earlier in the hour. Sara didn't seem to mind since it was also her smoking spot of choice only under the other section of bleachers across the field and adjacent to the ones they were under at the time.

"So," Catherine started as she placed her cigarette between her soft lips and flicked the flame from her lighter. "What do you like to do with your free time?"

"Uh," Sara began as she followed in the red head's step process to smoking. Catherine offered to use her lighter to get the brunette going and Sara only smiled and said "thanks" before continuing. "I don't know. Read…I guess."

"Hmm, interesting," Catherine let her sarcasm drip off her words.

Sara laughed and added, "Um, when inspiration hits I also like to write."

Catherine raised her eyebrow in amazement and curiosity. "You write? Poetry, letters…"

"Stories," Sara informed the now serious interested Catherine.

"Oh, um, could I see them?"

"Uh, they're kind of personal."

"Oh, okay."

"Not to mention, most of them are in my notebook which is in my backpack which is back in the quad along with the rest of our friends. I'm not ready to give up this good smoke just yet so…"

"You said most of them, do you have one with you now," Catherine asked, happy to hear there might be hope after all.

"Uh, well, yeah…but it's one that I just started today so it's far from being finished and I certainly haven't edited it yet…"

"I don't care…show me," Catherine cut Sara off, eager to read the piece.

"Yeah, okay," she took the cigarette from her mouth and dug into her right hand front pocket, pulling out several papers folded inside each other in a group.

"Do you usually keep your new works of art in your pocket instead of your notebook," Catherine took her cigarette from her mouth and flicked it before taking the passage in her hands.

"Uh, no, not usually. This one was…special and I thought I might have a chance to write it later when I was away from my bag or something. I-I was actually working on it when Nick came over, but I don't think he's a great observer. I slipped the papers into my pocket without him asking why."

They shared a light laugh and Catherine opened the papers, finding the numbers in the top right corners of the pages extremely helpful and starting from the beginning.

"_Trembling hands as a cause of the alcohol he had consumed that night wrangled her against the shed wall beside many power tools he was by no means afraid to use against the young girl. She understood no matter how many times she cried out and shrieked for some brave and friendly neighbor he would still have his way with her. _

"_His burning, whiskey sour lips scorched hers in his first attempt to sexually subdue his victim as she completely shut herself down, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and her mouth in a thin, hard line demonstrating her fiery though silent protest to his perverse actions._

"_She could feel his cold and damp hands, from the beverage of his he spilled in his earlier pursuit of the innocent being, clumsily lingering around the waistband of her dirt clad jeans. Jeans that had been dirtied from previous attempts to run through the backyard and away from her house to free herself from his demeaning game of cause and effect. It was all too much then suddenly his hot and thickly liquor coated breath stuck to her skin as it heavily smacked her neck seconds before his teeth sank into her tainted flesh._"

Catherine was at a loss for words as she read the story aloud. She had become stressed from only reading what was truth for some poor kids she would hear about in thriller or horror novels and had the overwhelming need to take a strong drag from her cigarette.

"Damn, this is some deep shit," Catherine had to admit, her wide eyes directed at the ink marked paper in her hand.

"What do you think though…other than how dark it is?" Sara shifted nervously, worried about whether or not it was terrible form or that it was the best the red head had ever read.

"I think it's…amazing. What is it that you want to do career wise," Catherine was itching to know.

"Uh, something that helps put criminals rightfully behind bars. I would say cop, but I like the science aspect more because…well, I find science fascinating!"

Catherine enjoyed how Sara's face lit up at the mention of her final two words. She smiled and held onto the paper, appearing as though she was not about to relinquish it back to its rightful owner.

"Wow, well, you know with the talent I'm finding in this story…you could be raking in a writer's salary _and _whatever it is you want to do involving science and justice's salary."

"Thanks, that's nice of you to say. Can I have my story back now?" Sara expectantly held out her hand for the papers, but Catherine pulled back, clutching onto them for dear life as her fingernails sunk into the paper, leaving indents.

"No! I want to finish reading what you have to offer. Keep writing it and I'll ask for updates. This shit is the most amazing piece of literature I've written and I've only gotten through a few paragraphs! Do we get to find out who the girl is?"

"Yeah, later. There are plenty of characters you'll want to know the true identity of as you continue to read. Are you serious though? You really want to keep reading?"

"Hell yeah, Sara, this is brilliant!"

Sara grew a smile and blushed, focusing all her attention on the ground as she shifted yet again.

"Hey," Catherine hooked her right index and middle finger under the taller woman's chin and lifted Sara's head so they could lock eyes. "Don't for one second doubt yourself, Sidle."

The grin plastered across Catherine's flawless face was infectious and caused Sara to blush even more now that she had smiled because of Catherine's warm tone. Catherine gave a low laugh and stepped closer to Sara before pressing her plump in anticipation lips ever so softly against the younger woman's slightly chapped ones.

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**_Reviews please! I love to know what you're thinking. ;)_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Not as long a chapter, but I was hoping this would hold you over for a bit. :)_**

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"I'll see you around," Catherine purred over her shoulder with an alluring grin as she made her way out from under the bleachers.

It took Sara a few moments before she ran after Catherine to walk back to the rest of the group. She jogged for the red head and called out for her attention.

"Hey, Catherine! Wait up!"

Catherine turned and smiled, waiting for Sara to catch up to her before she began speaking again. "I'm not going back. I have some reading to do."

Sara gulped and nervously smiled. "Can I come with you?"

Catherine laughed, finding Sara adorable. "You could, but you have something to go back to under the tree and I don't, other than you."

Catherine winked and grinned as she walked toward the school in the opposite direction of the quad. She had an extra bounce to her step as she practically ran into the building.

Sara sighed and headed back to finish lunch with the others for the remaining ten minutes before class. She faked most of her smiles, only wanting to be with Catherine and worried the red head might figure out what her story was about too soon for the brunette's comfort.

--

"See you tomorrow," Greg said his goodbyes to his best friend.

"Later, Greg," she hugged him before he went trotting away to his cousin's car in the pick up slash drop off area, honking the horn as though he was in a rush.

Sara sighed and started for the park a few blocks away from the school, anything to keep her away from home. She had no car and her parents had no compassion, no care in the world for her so they obviously were not coming to give her a ride back home.

She needed a place to escape and the park had become that perfect getaway. Most days she would go there and sit under the oak, writing. Sometimes she would feed the occasional ducks that passed by with stale bread she snuck into her bag that morning from home and other times she would watch the little kids running around and playing fun games she never did, without a care. Their parents were nice and always taking good care of the young ones like when they fell off the playground and scraped their knee, a mother would come rushing to their child's aid with Neosporin, a band-aid and would supply a kiss to make it better.

Sara never got that. All she got was a drunken father and a spacey junkie she was forced to call a mother. She remembered once when she scraped her knee it was because her father pushed her down in his rage before he struck her with a strong hand. She remembered when her mom tried to help when she clearly had been high and ended up harshly raking her nails over the wound that made it sting and hurt like hell. Her parents should be the winners of the most uninvolved, most irresponsible, non-parents parents award of _two_ lifetimes.

The sun was low in the sky, pushing down the horizon and Sara knew to get home though it was the last place she really wanted to be these days. She packed up her notebook and threw her flimsy and raggedy backpack over her shoulder, slowly descending down the hill in the direction of her house, not a home; house.

"Where the hell have you been, whore," her father yelled, his words bleeding together in a slur. He was drunk again, no change there.

She had only taken one step into the house when he began his verbal attack. She rolled her eyes and figured he would leave her alone for once. She took a few more steps, trying to pass him and get inside her room where she could lock her door and attempt to get some sleep.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, slut!" He rammed his palm into the hallway wall on the other side of him to trap her, keep her from walking away from him.

"Sorry, I guess I'm losing my hearing," she shot back though not as harshly, more with agitation than anger and frustration like her father.

"You better keep that damn mouth of yours shut! Go to my room," he ordered.

She knew if she at least struggled she had a chance of getting away from him. "No!"

She pushed herself against his arm, trying to brush past him with force and swift movements so nothing would happen to her.

"Bitch," he took his hand off the wall and wrapped her tightly in his arms, turning her so he had her backside in reach. He swatted her with much conviction and urged her toward the back of the trailer-like house that was extremely run down and utterly too small for the family of four they were.

"Let go of me," she screamed, flinging her elbow around to see if she could whack him in the rib cage, but failing.

He violently threw her to the floor in his room and slammed and locked the door behind him. He whipped his belt off and held it at his side, gripping it tightly. He watched Sara slide toward the window and away from him with a large grin stretching across his face, knowing she was scared of him right now.

"Come on, Sara, daddy loves you," he sickly joked as he towered over her. He brought back his hand and swung it with all his energy. The belt swiped down Sara's arm and ended its thwack on her thigh. He crouched over her and roughly grabbed her arm, pulling her up to him. She sought ever opportunity she had and settled for whirling her right fist in the direction of his groin, but he stopped her and threw her fist back at her, causing her with his guidance to hit herself.

Her head flew back at the contact, but she quickly had to make a recovery as he dragged her by the arm onto the bed. He forced her face down on the mattress and hit her with the belt again.

She cried out in pain and continued to fight for her freedom. He bit her neck from behind and rushed his hands up her back, taking her shirt with him. She tried many more times to hit him off her and each time he would slash her back with the belt.

It got to the point where she was in nothing but her black bra and panties with twenty belt marks covering her back, three on each of her thighs, and five across her stomach to count. He straddled her, holding the belt tight against her throat as she struggled to breath. She was loosing oxygen fast until she felt him harshly and jaggedly thrust into her. She cried out and he released pressure on the belt to steady himself, his hands on either side of her head.

As he withdrew, she grabbed the belt he had left lying on her neck and forced it against his throat and closing off his wind pipe as he made the motion to pump back into her. She wrapped it around his neck and pulled, hard. She sat up as he started to falter, headed backwards toward the foot of the bed.

She held him down until his eyes started to shut when she let go and fled, not caring to pick up her clothes on the way out of her parents room. She could hear him coughing and rolling onto the floor with a loud thud as she locked her bedroom door behind her.

Frantically, she searched for clean clothes to throw on and scanned the room for her bag. She then remembered it was out in the hall and she cursed as she grabbed a couple things she would need for the next day and the rest of the night. Once she had a pile of things like her hairbrush, a fresh shirt and pair of jeans, a few novels and a Forensics Journal, and some cherry Chapstick she heard a banging at her door along with a jiggling of her door handle.

"Open this fucking door, Sara, I'm not done with you!"

She had no time to throw on the clothes and knew she could not barrel out toward her backpack with all the things in her hands so she hurriedly threw on the jeans and tucked the shirt into the pocket along with the Chapstick, leaving behind two novels and taking only one, and rolled up the Forensics Journal, though she hated to do it, and stuffed it into one of the back pockets of her jeans. She grabbed the bat she kept hidden in her closet and choked up on the bat, her father still banging on her door and yelling at her through it.

Swiftly, she unlocked the door, tore it open and threw the hand used to do all those things back onto the bat and swung at her father's ribs. He was winded and on the ground, not able to move so quickly and grab her by the ankles. He clutched his bruised side and coughed a several times as he watched her run to her backpack, sweeping it off the floor when her mother appeared from the living room.

"What…what are you doing, sweetheart," she breathlessly asked, confused with a gentle voice.

Sara shrugged her off and fled to the front door when her brother yelled out. "Don't you leave this god damn house, do you understand me?!"

"Screw you, Andy," she hollered on her way out of the house, not bothering to shut the door behind her.

The park was the only place she knew to go though she could have gone to Greg's, but she needed to be alone. The park was not somewhere she wanted to be alone in at night, but it was her best bet. There were sprinklers, streetlights and various lights through the sidewalks of the park, and no rapist father of hers around. It was where she would spend the night until something made her rethink and head to Greg's place.

She finally took the time to throw on her shirt, wincing in pain as she raised her arms and slid the fabric down her back. The belt marks were still fresh therefore they still stung. She found a bench near a lamp, but concealed in darkness so no creep walking the streets at night could spot her easily. She pulled out her Forensics Journal, which was a gift from Grissom, and unfolded it before putting it in her bag.

She pulled out her Chapstick and applied it to her dry lips before dropping it into her backpack. She sighed and brought the novel off her lap and into her hands, opening it to the place she last left off as she pulled out a cigarette and her lighter from her backpack.

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**_Thanks for the reviews I've gotten from the first two chapters. You all know I love hearing from you, so don't be afraid to hit that Review button below and tell me, 'how does that make you feel'. ;) Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. _**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Okay, so school's back in session and this hardcore English class is really my only concern. I'm trying my hardest and I'm working at it a lot which is the real reason why I haven't been updating as well I feel I should. But the good news is, I have two classes that are insanely easy, for the moment at least, and that's how I'm able to give you this update right now. :) Hope you enjoy!!!_**

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**_Chapter 4_**

Thankfully she had a wristwatch beeping to wake her from the deep sleep she had gotten on the hard, cold, wooden, splinter clad park bench. The sprinklers were going of in locations around on the green the surrounded the walkway the bench she occupied. She knew she had half an hour before she needed to get to school and she planned on taking a quick shower without having to go back to her broken home.

She took surveillance of the park and as far as her eyes could see, still hazy with sleep, no one was around to witness her makeshift showering technique. She stripped herself of her shirt roughly, quickly as to get back in it before some innocent bystander got a good look…and then decided to call it in as possible abuse from what their sight let them collect. She did the same with her pants and thought about how her 'shower' was going to work.

She wanted to make sure that her underwear or bra didn't get wet because it would defeat the purpose of her having removed her clothes, but she didn't have anything to dry herself off with either so no matter what, she would still be wet. She scanned the park for anything that would dry her off in record time and found nothing. Then a thought hit her.

She ran her feet over the spout of one of the sprinklers nearest the trees, woods, then dropped it and stepped aside before sticking out her right leg. After the water had made its way entirely down and across her right leg, she repeated her actions with her left afterward doing the same thing with her arms, one by one.

She let the water spray her hands one by one and wet under her armpits to get as clean as possible and took off running around the edges of trees. She hoped the wind she was picking up as she ran was helping dry her off faster when she noticed a fairly elderly man making his way down the trail with a paper in his hand, the crisp morning the perfect time for a stroll.

She sprinted back to her clothes and threw her shirt and pants on, knowing she would have to be dry enough whether it was the truth or not. She straightened her shirt out, barely having covered her midriff in enough time before the man peered over his paper and smiled at her, politely lifting his hat in a 'hello'.

"Hi," she quietly greeted, waving at the man as he passed by her. Once she was in the clear and the man had persisted through far down to the end of the line of trees, Sara tensed and winced as the beating from the night before still had its stinging effects that, from experience, she knew would last for at least another day or two.

She raked her hands through her hair to make it look presentable and grabbed her bag, everything she had taken from the night before safely secured inside it.

--

_She must not have the kind of precious time most people tend to have, _Catherine mused about the fact Sara spent all her 'precious' time writing.

She had already gone through twenty-some pages front and back and understood completely that the brunette was none other than Sara Sidle and assumed the red head mentioned frequently after the fifth page was none other than her. And Sara had been quite subtle for a handful of feelings that were writing themselves off the page toward Catherine's character. Throughout it all, she kept reading.

'_The cold, hard, cement floor of the dark and dreadful basement was the furthest thing from her father at the time. Though it was a safe place for her to be, she was not there by choice. _

_The bad man had locked her away, dependant on her youth, or rather, what she had left of it. The leech infested her being and suckled every bit of her physically and emotionally. She had nothing left of or within herself. She was lost, but so was Radiant Red whom she found with her cigarette smoking and batting lashes. She was hidden among the deepest affected of them.'_

Catherine's eyes had widened, having never left the paper. She finished what little of the story she had and was amazed. She knew Sara was good at something, had a talent, and it wasn't only writing. She could read people, oddly enough. She had seemed antisocial and rebellious to the point she stood for herself. Instead, she took the senior by surprise and wowed her with the ability to explain her situation without having ever met Sam or her mother.

_Had she overheard my talk with Warrick or Lisa? Did one of them tell?_

She shook her head, trying not to spend much time thinking about it as she got into her mother's old car and headed out for school.

Catherine spotted Sara heading over the rise, stumbling down the hill though not rolling or hitting the ground. She was coming in the direction of the park, which made the smaller woman wonder what Sara had been doing over there.

She noticed Greg running to Sara's aid and didn't know what to think as Warrick approached her with a warm smile. Catherine was dazed and furrowing her brows in contemplation of the situation she was faced with since Greg was the only person to know about her abuse and worried a lot about what was unfolding.

"Hey, Cath, what's going on," Warrick tried to ask as he touched her shoulder.

"Uh, Rick? I have to go…see what's wrong with Sara. I'll be right back."

Catherine fled to the hills, hoping Sara would talk to her, knowing they should given the things she read.

"Sara! Hey, Greg. Um, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Sara smiled, happy to know Catherine cared. "I'm, uh, looking for a place to stay. I need some fresh clothes and somewhere to sleep. I hate to ask but…"

Greg cut her off. "I'll take you in!"

Sara stretched her smile. "I was actually kind of hoping Catherine would…"

Catherine's eyes widened.

"Let me stay with her. I mean…I think we're around the same size and I know we're both girls…unless there's something you're not telling me," Sara attempted to make light of the situation.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Um, after school you can hitch a ride with me." She looked calm and collected other than the smile plastered across her face out of sheer happiness and excitement.

"Great," Sara sighed and smiled in relief.

--

Catherine only noticed the first sign of even a bruise when Sara reached for the she offered on the bleachers. Her right wrist was slightly exposed for a few seconds, revealing a dark purple mark and red rash.

"Sara…" Catherine furrowed her brows and waited for the brunette's attention. "Why is it that you need a place to stay?"

"Uh…I don't…"

"Sara," the red head folded her arms over her chest, shifting her weight onto her right leg.

Sara looked at the cigarette seconds before flicking the flame of the lighter and ignited her addiction. She then dropped her hand holding her lighter near her feet and focused on her knees, picking at the ratty jean material. "My life is…way too messed up to tell anyone and expect whomever I'm telling not to think I'm crazy."

"Hey," he slumped down next to Sara and rested her head on the younger woman's shoulder, placing her hand on Sara's elbow. "You can tell me anything…and I promise not to judge. Believe me, I know what it's like to want to keep quiet."

Sara looked over Catherine's hurt expression and leaned onto the senior, forcing her to sit up before the brunette boldly pressed their lips together.

Catherine took a moment before opening her eyes to see an, equally as she had been earlier, concerned Sara. The brunette was serious but felt for Catherine.

"You shouldn't let him get to you. If you do, you'll be everything you r not and I would hate you to be."

Catherine furrowed her brows and curled herself up, knees to chest. "How is it that you know who he is?"

"She was his accessory to a party at one of his casinos. It made the headlines and I saw on one your papers in class last year. You signed it Catherine _Flynn._ Lily's last name was mentioned and I assumed. Plus, you seemed to be having trouble with something."

Catherine looked down, defeated. She clenched her teeth feeling weak and exposed. Sara recognized her vulnerability, crawled closer and opened her mouth to speak.

"My mom likes to get high and pretend nothing's wrong. My mother likes to be the boss so he can prove himself to our dad. And…our dad loves his alcohol and enjoys beating my mom and me, but I'm his favorite punching bag."

Sara's confession had her focusing on the ground as Catherine looked up with moist eyes. She lightly gripped the taller woman's hand for support, Sara pulling Catherine into her for serious warmth and proper affection. She wanted Catherine to understand she was not alone and had a chance with her to let all her feelings, no matter how weak they made her appear, out. Sara attempted to express she was more than wiling to be the shoulder for the red head to cry on any needed time.

"I'm sorry…about the things you're dealing with. You're still coming home with me, right? I would hate to see you go back."

Sara smiled as they had pulled away from each other and wiped away Catherine's tears with the ad of her thumbs. Catherine choked out a laugh and took Sara's place by roughly passing the back of her hands directly under her eyes, embarrassed about her unnecessary emotional crisis.

"I'm glad you care where I stay and just to let you know… you can take me home anytime."

The purr sent a shiver down Catherine's spine and caused her to drop her jaw, her breath hitching at the brunette's touch and proximity that drove her wild.

Catherine was driving her mother's old car and could leave whenever she wanted and waited for Sara to finish her conversations with Nick, Warrick, and Greg.

"Actually…if it's not too much to ask…my cousin can't give me a ride home and I missed my bus so…"

"Yes, Greg, I'll give you a ride," Catherine rolled her eyes and shook her head, burying a laugh deep within her chest, shown but not heard.

"Sweet," Greg victoriously smiled and punched back his elbow in satisfaction. He swung his arm around Sara's shoulders and neck and began walking to the senior's car.

"Hey, wait a second, Greg," Nick taped the freshman on his arm, the arm around Sara. "Let _us _say goodbye to her. You get the car ride."

Nick smacked the back of his hand against Warrick's chest without making eye contact with tall, dark and handsome.

"Yeah, we'll see you Monday," Warrick concurred and stepped forward, pulling Sara into a warm, tight hug. Nick followed Warrick lead with a wide smile and a squeeze before pulling away from the friendly gesture.

"Yeah, see you guys then," Sara genuinely smiled as she waved at the retreating, fit figures heading o their ride.

Greg then continued on his journey to Catherine's care, the red head discretely slipping her hand in the brunette's.

"This…is your car," Greg frowned and stifled his laugh with much ease.

"What, just because your cousins can be rolling in the dough, _his _dough, and can afford the latest set of wheels doesn't mean my car is worthless," Catherine argued, not upset but defending her giant, weighs a ton, hunk of metal.

"I think it's nice. Way better than the scraps from the junk yard _Greg _or myself can acquire," Sara smiled, squeezing Catherine's hand before reluctantly letting go of her grip and heading around the back of the car to the passenger's seat.

Greg rolled his eyes, hating the fact that he had to be considered a child and settle in the back seat. He threw the door open when the senior unlocked the car and hastily plopped down into the large seat allowing three people.

--

"See you later, Greg," Sara and Catherine unintentionally simultaneously called to the spiky blonde as he lightly trudged up the porch steps. He was happy to be home, but he wanted to stay with Sara to reassure himself she was okay and enforce fun for his hurting friend.

"Later. Oh, and don't forget to call me! I wanna know what's going on over the weekend," his eyes bugged out and pleaded for Sara to agree.

"Yes, Greg. I'll cal you," Sara laughed out the passenger's side window. "Now go have a good dinner and stop worrying about me."

He took her urging action of carelessly flailing her arm out the open window in the direction of his front door and made it to the light, spring screen door.

Catherine's gaze upon Sara as she rolled up the window and turned, giggling, to Catherine who was sparkling along with a gracious smile that could light up a room.

"What," Sara inquired, still laughing but furrowing her brow in confusion toward her new friend's expression.

"Greg really does care, you know. I'd say he loves you like a sister. You should call him tomorrow…like he wants."

"I know," she chuckled. "And I planned on it. Are you worried about me, too?"

"Well, I'm not worried about _you _in the way of self-harm or anything, but…emotionally, your parents. Call me crazy, but I don't think anybody should have to go through all that you have."

"If you're going to get emotional…maybe I should drive," Sara joked.

Catherine chuckled, but soon came to the realization that maybe the joke was a good idea.

"Have you ever driven a car?" Catherine turned her body a bit to better face her friend.

Sara averted her eyes and shifted nervously in the passenger's seat. "No."

Catherine took her quiet reply as a reason to believe the brunette was abashed. She smiled, loving the reactions Sara demonstrated.

"Okay, I'd say this residential area should be easy enough. Get out!"

"What," Sara's face flared up, she felt as though she were on fire.

"Come on, I'll teach you what I've learned. You'll only be going ten to thirty miles an hour! I promise we'll take it slow."

Sara calmed herself and only slightly, now nervous instead of confused and hurt. "No, I couldn't. I know I would wreck the car faster than you can say…"

"Now!"

"Okay, I guess I _really _over exaggerating because I should've have already wrecked the car by now."

Catherine shook her head with a light laugh, unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled at the handle to open her door.

"I won't take no for an answer," Catherine pushed with a smile, not to sound cruel or punishing.

Sara remained inanimate until the red head opened the passenger door, bending down with her ass out and her cleavage on display.

"What will it take to get you behind the wheel?" Her tone was calm, relaxed, almost soothing.

Sara gave Catherine a once over, her eyes carefully raked over every last inch of her figure. The older woman mischievously grinned and stood up straight, her fingers slickly stumbling down to her pants button. Sara's eyes widened and she shifted to get out of the car and rushed around to the driver's seat.

Her eyes remained wide for a good ten seconds once she was in place as Catherine had asked. She clenched and unclenched her fists on the steering wheel at the assumed position of ten and two. Catherine bit her bottom lip as she entered the car and wondered if Sara was more scared of her than controlling a heavy metal box with plenty of difficult concepts to grasp other than all the need-to-know road rules.

"Okay, so you've never driven a car. Anything else you're a virgin at?" Catherine _had_ to know so she would not feel so rejected.

"Sure, but we can talk about those way later…like sometime after you're not expecting me to learn how to drive!"

Sara was tense and worried as both could clearly tell. The brunette wanted to learn how to drive, among other things, with the girl she trusted, but in all due time. She didn't want the pressure to be on and 'take it slow' like Catherine had said, but that would not be the case if she unexpectedly had to participate in pleasing Catherine.

"Fine," Catherine grinned. "Tell me later. Let's get this lesson started. Just try and relax."

Sara took several deep breaths in an attempt to cool down and prepare herself. She flexed her fingers and lessened her death grip on the steering wheel, looking over at Catherine as she had who was wearing the cutest smile that instantly became infectious.

"What next," Sara asked through her smile, for the moment not taking her eyes off the beautiful and amazing Catherine Willows.

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**_Hope this length pleased you lovely readers. :) I worked on it all week just for you and I hope to be able to do this a lot over the remainder of the year. :D I love reviews as I've said all too many times before so...give it to me and I'll give it to you! haha, Double Meaning. (that's what she said) ;)_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Alright, I'm back in posting for the night. I hope to get Sara Turns 21 a new chapter polished and published over the weekend for those of you who are currently reading! :) I've been working on it for weeks which says a lot because my classes are demanding and highly draining. Thank god for friends and weekends! :P Anyway, enjoy!_**

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"Okay, let's take this slow," Catherine started, taking a deep breath. "Put your foot on the break and put the car in drive."

"That's the… 'D', right?" Sara's voice was wavering, nervous and insecure.

Catherine chuckled and nodded. She turned the radio down until it came out a whisper. Sara _really _needed to concentrate.

"Now," Catherine started after Sara switched to drive. "_Slowly _take your foot off the brake and don't worry about the gas. Just let it coast and focus on steering."

Sara took a deep, calming breath, something she would be doing a while at her rate of high strung. She clenched and unclenched her fingers on the steering wheel as she allowed the car to crawl down the street. Catherine took the opportunity to slap her hand down on Sara's lower thigh, a bit above her knee. She then passed her hand over the brunette's entire thigh, gave two full-length strokes before removing her hand altogether.

"You're doing just fine," Catherine sweetly and encouragingly informed her.

"Thanks," her reply trembled off her lips.

"Don't be so nervous…look, I don't expect you to understand every concept in one day. Like I said, we'll take it slow."

Ten minutes passed, spent driving around Greg's block. Catherine nodded and stepped in yet again for a final instruction for the day.

"Okay, today you passed your lesson. Now you can just pull over to the side, pull up to the curb and then put the car in park." She was cheery and easy to deal with, no temper.

Sara gradually, cautiously, did what she was told and actually managed _not _hitting the curb, or anything else for that matter. She sighed, relieved, and it seemed as if se had heaved the world off her shoulders. She was finally able to relax.

"Can we go to your place now," Sara tiredly asked.

Catherine giggled and delicately ran her forefinger through the brunette strands. "Yes, and I'll be the one driving."

"Thank god," Sara dramatically exasperated her nervousness and disapproval of 'lessons'.

Catherine continued to laugh and slid her hand to the tips of Sara's hair, then flowingly brought it back down to her lap. She remained staring at the beauty before her for a good minute and a half. Sara felt like she was in the hot seat.

"Why are you burning a hole into my face," Sara awkwardly asked.

"Sorry, I just…" Catherine started to explain when her pager went off. She rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration before pulling it from her hip to read the number. "Damn it!"

"Who was it?"

"Sam, my mom's boyfriend, although you already seemed to know that by the words you used to describe my home life," Catherine tiredly referred to Sara's little story.

Sara slowly moved her head to one full and clicked her seat belt free from its containment. Catherine furrowed her brows and jumped to stop Sara from continuing her actions.

"I don't want to go home," Catherine tightly clamped her left hand around Sara's left wrist that sprawled diagonally across her front.

Sara furrowed her brows in turn and discontinued all movement except relaxing. Catherine kept her hand around the younger woman's wrist and inched closer, brought her lips mere millimeters from Sara's partially chapped lips.

"Catherine…" Sara's tone was low, her voice crisply crackling out as a tiny whisper.

"I want to be with you," Catherine purred, thick with powerful emotion. She searched through Sara's murky brown eyes for acceptance, approval and compassion. She saw all of those things.

Sara patiently closed her eyes and closed all remained space between their lips. They pushed no further than rubbing said lips until they felt each other's tongues slip past lips and for a split second touch.

Catherine moaned and released Sara's wrist, moved her right hand up to cup the brunette's darling and soft face. She used her left hand to unbuckle her seatbelt. She then crawled over the center console, swinging her legs over Sara's lap one at a time into a straddling position.

"Just let me have this," Catherine breathlessly uttered before her lips slicked over Sara's, a passionate and meaningful kiss erupting.

Sara hooked her thumbs into Catherine's belt loops and spread her nimble fingers over the red head's backside. She forcefully pulled the older woman into her and punctured Catherine's mouth with her tongue, both moaned.

Catherine massaged Sara's tongue with her own and gently rocked herself against the brunette. She moved her hand down to the junior's pants button and worked blindly at undoing the jeans. She then unbuttoned her own pants after giving herself the room inside Sara's panties.

"Mm," Sara moaned and began to pant. She felt delicate hands on hers and realized they were being delivered around Catherine's sides, over the extreme upper portion of Catherine's upper thighs, finally set dug into the lace and moisture.

"Holy shit," Sara panted onto Catherine's lips, caused the senior to hum a laugh into their next kiss.

"You're only half way there," Catherine purred as she straightened herself in Sara's lap, arching in to the touch. "Take me all the way."

Sara harshly exhaled into the next kiss and squeezed her left hand on Catherine's right upper thigh as the red head sunk her hand into Sara's underwear. She moaned, titled her head as far back as the driver's seat would allow, the car still running. "Oh…god!"

Sara couldn't take the feeling of Catherine's hand running through her folds and please her partner all the same. She began to withdraw her hand as she bucked her hips into the touch. She didn't want to retract, but Catherine was making things such as that extremely difficult.

Catherine was not about to pay a fortune like that by any means and violently sprang her free hand onto Sara's, directing her back to where she wanted her.

"Not…so…fast," Catherine managed to sputter out as she played with Sara's hand similar to Geppetto.

"I-I…can't," Sara sounded weak, controlled, and afraid. She seemed the contradictory of ready.

Catherine tried to push Sara a bit further and see if maybe the brunette didn't know her limits as well as she thought. She let her fingers glide to the junior's opening. As not to push too far, she stopped before entering.

"Not like this," Sara hurried her words.

Catherine looked deep within Sara's murky brown eyes and brought her hand back, out of her pants. She swallowed to give herself a tad more saliva now that she was experiencing dry mouth.

"But…you're not going to take you hand…" Catherine attempted to ask but was cut off by Sara's wide-eyed reply.

"No. You apparently need something…I just don't think I can take anything from you right now."

Catherine hummed a moved in, locking her lips for the umpteenth time with Sara who started then quickened her teasing pace between the red head's slick folds. She moaned as Sara spread her own legs for necessary space and pushed the two forward in the direction of the windshield.

Sara took it up a notch and slid her fingers to Catherine's opening much like Catherine had tried to do with her. She could, as if she hadn't already, feel how extremely soaked Catherine was at that point. The brunette circled around the area with her middle finger, went around four agonizingly slow times, then punched through to inside making Catherine instinctively tense and bite her bottom lip.

"Oh…god! This feels…great! Keep going, babe," Catherine nodded the younger woman on and clawed at Sara's shoulders. It was also the first time she had ever used a pet name with the brunette.

Then, without thinking, Sara gripped the steering wheel with her free hand and pounded into Catherine. Her backside plump and toned as it was, Catherine hit the horn and startled both of them.

After the shock had settled, Catherine looked down at Sara who was failing at concealing a cracked smile. Immediately, Catherine burst into laughter and bent into a crescent moon, still in Sara's wonderful embrace. The two shared their hardy laughter for a good minute then relaxed and grew serious once again.

"I can't believe your ass comes with an alarm," Sara joked as she tenderly rubbed over the earlier mentioned body part.

Catherine laughed and shook her head, dipping down for a quick kiss. She marveled Sara and was glad to be helping her. She wanted nothing more than to cherish, love, honor, and take care of her girlfriend, if Sara agreed to a few dates.

"Yeah, I can't believe my ass rejected you!" She raised an eyebrow and played along before collecting her thoughts. "I think we've had our fun. We should probably get back to my place. Sam would only page me if my mom was getting worried or that dinner will get cold if I don't hurry home."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sara showed as much concern Catherine had earlier that day, in the morning before school.

"Let me put it this way, do you trust me in touching you?"

"You're touching me now, aren't you?"

"Okay, let me try this again. If I asked you, the two of us alone in my room, I wanted to see you as much as be inside you, would you strip?"

"Don't think it's not because I don't trust you at this point…but it's hard to even let you sit in my lap! There are so many things, Cat, I'm just not ready for yet. All I know is that I keep trying…for you."

Catherine smiled and got more than a confirming answer. "Which is how I feel about things like Sam. We'll get there in due time. So…yeah, let's not worry just this second. Now take me home."

Sara laughed and Catherine winked, knowing what she had said could be misinterpreted.

"I'll never get your mind out of the gutter, will I," Catherine rolled her eyes and let the twinkle in her vivid, blinding blue orbs sparkle in compliments to her warm, refreshing smile.

"Now that you've gotten me started, I'm almost positive you won't," Sara answered with a matching smile before lingeringly though chastely kissing Catherine.

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**_Thanks for reading. As always, I love my reviews! :D_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Okay, can't remember the last time I updated, but I feel like it's been a while. So...here's the latest for you! :) Enjoy._**

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The rive resulted in a put stop at the gas station due to their fun time after Sara's lesson. Catherine needed to fill up the tank whole Sara insisted on running in for snacks.

"Here, take the cash in with you and tell them pump 6," Catherine handed her ten dollars.

"Um, can I have another five?"

"Why?"

"I don't have any money," Sara wavered and uncomfortably shifted, embarrassed.

"Oh," Catherine seemed a bit shocked, but quickly recovered and pulled out a five-dollar bill from her right front pocket. "No problem. Can you get me a packet of a Pop Rocks while your I there?"

Sara took the bill as she smiled and nodded before skipping inside. Catherine shook her head and smiled as se lunged into her car and grabbed two quarters from the area in the center console dedicated to loose change. She thought to call home for her mother's sake.

"Hello," the nervous wreck answered.

"Hey, mom, I wanted to call so you wouldn't worry too much."

"Catherine Alexandria Flynn! How dare you ignore Sam's page! Where are you? Get your ass home now, young lady! Just because you have a car now doesn't mean you can go whenever you damn well please!"

"I know, mom! Listen, I dropped one of my friends off at their place and right now I'm getting gas. I can get home in enough time to get fed and go to work. But I'm brining a friend home for a sleepover tonight."

"If I see one more asshole piece of shit in _my _house I swear, Catherine, I'll…"

"_She _is much better than anyone you've _ever _met," Catherine defended the brunette.

"Oh, she's a gal pal. That's much better than what is was sounding like. You really should be more informative!"

"Yeah, whatever," Catherine looked up from the pay phone to see Sara heading out ogf the store with a tiny ox of Pop Rocks wearing a warming smile in her direction.

Catherine mouthed "one minute" as she held out her index finger. "Listen, I've gotta go if you want me home so I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll see you soon."

Catherine rubbed her lips together as though he were spreading lip gloss across the pink flesh and nodded before hanging up the payphone, a click to complete the cal and accept her change.

"So…what happens when we get home," Sara asked, handing over Catherine's candy.

"I'm really liking the sound of that," Catherine smiled at Sara as she curled her fingers around the box of goodies and embarked upon their trip to the car.

Sara smiled as well and decided to jerk her hand into Catherine's for the remained of their time spent filling the tank. Catherine only intensified it by coiling her fingers with Sara's and pulling the brunette in for a kiss.

"As much as I hate to say this, I have to work tonight so…you're going to have to stay with my mom."

"And Sam?"

"Most likely…but at least you'll be the reason they won't so much as kiss!" Catherine smiled, feeling relief at the thought.

"I'd rather go with you."

"I wish you could, but it's work!" Catherine lied because with her job she definitely didn't want Sara to know a damn thing. Even her mother bought into the deceit of her bagging groceries at the local convenient store.

"Yeah," Sara quietly agreed. She seemed so sad and alone, it almost made Catherine agree to let her tag along.

"Look at it this way, if Sam _were _to touch you in _any _way we can get rid of him so it'll be a demented win-win situation," she tried to look on the bright side for the both of them.

--

"Mom, I'm home," Catherine called after opening the door, ready to shut it once Sara stepped in front of her as the sign she was in the house.

"Mugs," Sam happily greeted, walking toward her with arms wide open.

She felt a bear hug and squeeze as she defensively kept her arms stiffly in front of her chest. She refused him, but he seemed to always push to be a part of her life. She always thought it was so he could still be on her mother's "good list".

"Glad to see you made it home in one piece. Is this the friend your mother mentioned after talking to you?"

Sara tensed more so than when she first saw him as he directed his attention at her and invaded into her personal space. He thought to give her a handshake, but moved to suddenly for her taste.

"Uh, Sam," Catherine intervened for Sara's sake. "Why don't we get some of that delicious dinner I know mom made."

She smiled art Sam's expense and wrapped her self around his back, turned him toward the kitchen. She hated touching him, but it was about Sara, not about her.

Sara forced a smile at Sam as he knitted his eyebrows mid-spin to the kitchen and furthermore the dining room.

"Where is my mom, by the way?"

"I'm right here, Catherine, calm down. And what's name, dear?" She looked to Sara and was sincere with her glee, which was a nice change for the junior.

"Sara…and I hope I'm not intruding."

She felt awkward, like meting a date's parents for the first time while they're puts-ing around upstairs in heart failing nervousness.

"Oh heavens, no! I pray it wasn't Catherine here who put that into your head," she clutched her daughter and held her smile. "You can call me Lily and it's nice to meet you, Sara. It's not very often I get to meet or even _hear _about girl friends of hers. She only ever surrounds herself with the boys."

Catherine rolled her eyes, but looked ashamed and Sara stepped up to the plate with the tiny realization.

"Most girls at the school are too shallow so they don't understand how to have fun. Guys like sports and that's as much fun as entertaining. _I _don't have a of girl friends."

Catherine looked up, shocked, which made Sara smile.

"All right, well," Catherine broke up the party. "Let's eat so I can head out."

--

"That was a really great dinner," Sara smiled as she walked Catherine to her car. "You know…you're shift is really late…and it is Vegas. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Sara's hand lightly slid down her arm, which made Catherine all back against her car, her ass heavily pressed to the driver's side door. Brown eyes serious, Sara was concerned as well as curious.

Catherine tiredly sighed and looked away. She knew Sara was onto her and she didn't want to explain.

"It's complicated," Catherine tritely admitted.

"Isn't it always," Sara sighed, frustrated. She rubbed Catherine's arm to reassure the red head. "You know my deep, dark secret…can you tell me yours?"

Sara inched closer to Catherine and in not time had her pinned against the door. She leaned in and mauled Catherine's lips with her own. Their powerful kiss led to an attack of their bodies, a make out session in place.

"Damn you for being so irresistible," Catherine broke their kisses. "On the strip…I dance around on stage, half naked for a number of creeps want to get their rocks off."

Sara knew that would be the answer, but she was still a bit disappointed. "Dance for me.

The command almost knocked Catherine off her feet until she focused her eyes again and watched as Sara hastily removed her shirt tight there in the driveway. She had healing scars on her lower stomach and immediately about her chest. Her arms we were another story with constant wounds, some fresh, other's old.

"Oh…Sara," Catherine reached out to lightly brush her fingertips over the pain.

"I'll let you touch me anywhere…if you don't go. If you don't touch me, I'll sleep on the floor tonight. Next night, I'll sleep on the couch in the living room and the night after that I'll sleep out side in the backyard on the picnic able, then…you won't see in the morning."

Catherine shook her head and raked her eyes over every exposed section of skin Sara allowed viewable. She took a step forward and debated her options. She sighed and smiled as she pulled Sara closer to her by the hair and turned her around. She lightly touched the brunette's hips and touched the nape of Sara's neck from behind with her mouth; tongue and lips.

Sara shivered and released her shirt, the article almost falling to the ground if not for Catherine snatching it as she pulled away from Sara.

"Put your shirt on and get inside. Now! I'll see you in my room in five minutes," Catherine commanded with a ravenous thirst and luscious lust.

Sara licked her lips and threw her shirt back on as she rushed into the large domain. Sam and Lily were in the dining room cleaning up and sweet-talking each other when the brunette stumbled through the door. She forced a smile at the couple when she quickly noticed them giving her an odd stare of concern and confusion.

She then hustled up the stairs, two steps at a time and busted into Catherine's room. The first thing she did was head to the window, peered out to see if Catherine remained where she left her. And she was.

"Cover for me, Lace," Catherine simplified things over the phone beside her car. "Listen, I would go in tonight…but I, uh, Sam Braun won't let me… Yeah, that's my mother on his arm in the papers."

She hated it when people finally understood her mother was whoring herself out to the biggest casino owner in Vegas alive. She rolled her eyes and waited for her friend Lacey to talk about the situation at hand instead of her mother's personal life.

"Uh huh, so anyway…go ahead and let the Charles know Sam's eying me like precious cargo or something to that affect and lemme know how it turns out, k?"

A couple seconds later she pressed end and nervously bit her bottom lip before doing as Sara had in rushing to get to her bedroom.

She crashed into the room and instantly grinned as she looked up to find Sara somewhat lying on the bed, her knees up, feet firmly planted against the mattress, her head relaxed into one of the silky pillows, her left arm extended limply over her torso.

"I'm glad you're here," Catherine held her seductive grin as she slowly shut the door behind her for a dramatic, and impatience from Sara, effect. She lunged toward her desk and slid the chair to meet her at the door, jamming it under the knob as a makeshift lock.

"Me too," Sara half purred through her smile. She removed her arm from over her midsection and slid upward on the bed, though she kept her knees up and used the wall to support her back. Catherine would have protested, but as she intently watched her friend reposition herself in a similar fashion, she relaxed, happy to see Sara's legs still where she wanted them.

The predator prowled onto the bed, crawling on all fours to get to its prey for a death-defying kiss. When their lips met again, fireworks sprouted in both ladies' minds and made Catherine crazier with passion toward her little gazelle. She thrust herself between Sara's already spread legs due to her same position, head and back against the wall, and pounded her body flush against her partner's aching sanctuary.

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**_Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it, but you know...instead of me trying to read your minds maybe you could click the button below and let me know. :) I'll have more for you later and I'm trying hard to get an update out every week for you guys. And yes, I know I cut you off on some smut, but that just means the more it's worth to wait! Ha. And who knows...maybe if I get enough reviews to please my ego...I'll push harder to get an update out faster than next weekend! ;)_**


	7. Chapter 7

**_So, I hate to say this...but you won't be getting any more writing out of my until next weekend. :( Sorry, if that's too long for you to have an update, but I can't work any faster with that now that school's back in session. Plus, my novel comes after school work and I'm also still trying to run through the Stephanie Plum novels. I'm just starting the third one and they're great enough to give a shout out to Janet Evanovich for her brilliant mind! :P _**

**_Well, enjoy the last of the updates until October! And yay, CSI's new season! I loved the locker room scene with Catherine and Sara. So funny. Baseball analogies. Heheh. :P_**

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"Unh," Sara grunted as she felt Catherine's muscles kept in shape by her vigorous exercise around the pole. She didn't like knowing that about her girlfriend, but she got Catherine to stay the night instead of going into work, didn't she?

Catherine panted against Sara's soft lips waiting for another round of _Who Can Control the Kiss More?_ She smiled at what being in her bed meant. She smiled at the feel of Sara pressed in to her. She smiled at not pleasing customers for the night. She smiled at the fact Sam would hate to know any of what was happening and he sat with her mother downstairs.

_Take that, Sam! For dating my mom you're gonna have to deal with my girlfriend and I making love and fucking each other's brains out! _

Catherine knew it was wrong to want sex and then use it to smite Braun, but it was a helluva bonus. She snaked her tongue around and over and under and above Sara's own tongue and relished in the sounds the brunette emitted.

After an intense thirty minutes of nothing but strong face sucking, Catherine started undressing Sara. The brunette was nowhere near ready to expose all her scars, but they made a deal. She promised Catherine she could touch her anywhere if she stayed, which she did. So now it was time to get over her fears of being thrown out because of all baggage. Catherine already knew about her father. Catherine had seen some scars. And Catherine was still there with her, on top of her, giving her the world and pushing the fact she would never take it away.

A sheen of sweat coated their bodies and the bit down on a pillow to hush their sounds as they pumped their fingers at an in sync rhythm in and out of each other. They gave it their all and showed the other how tender they could be in their relationship.

Then all at once, the waves of their orgasms simultaneously came crashing in to shore. They relaxed and Catherine collapsed onto Sara's completely uncovered body.

"You're a goddess," Catherine breathlessly complimented Sara.

"I know," Sara feigned arrogance for a laugh Catherine more than happily granted her ears. "You were amazing. I'm glad you stayed."

"Me too," Catherine looked in to Sara's deep brown eyes as she propped her head on her layered hands that rested on Sara's torso.

In their own way, they said they loved each other without fear it was too soon. Since they had not used the three trite words, timing was in their control. They smiled at each other and continued to stare and admire the other well for five minutes.

"I could watch you watch paint dry all day long," Sara confessed. "But don't you think we should get some sleep? Or do homework? Or maybe explain to them downstairs why you didn't report tonight?"

"Sara, sweetie, just enjoy the moment."

"I can't! Omigod, I can't enjoy the moment! What's wrong with me? What about Warrick? We have to tell him! Damn! You're going to break up with one of us! Please don't let it be me. But if it's him, don't hurt him."

Catherine rolled her eyes with a large smile and crushed Sara's lips with her own. "It's not going to be you…and I have a very good feeling Warrick already knows. Plus, I think he'd rather be my best friend then my boyfriend."

"Oh," Sara stared blankly at her girlfriend. "Then there's no reason to stop kissing me. Let's share this moment."

Both smiled and reverted back to making out for twenty additional minutes.

--

Sam sported a questioning look when the girls got downstairs and located themselves in the living room to watch television. "What was going on up there?"

"Oh, nothing. We just had a heated debate about an answer on the homework," Catherine lied her cute, round little ass off.

Sara smiled and nodded in agreement. Her giddy mood would not be taken away by the big shot walking out of the kitchen. She desperately wanted to reach out and hold Catherine's hand, but with bold eyes closely observing she had no other choice except wait until they sat on the couch.

Once they had plopped down on the suede green furniture, Sara tossed a pillow over their arms and linked her fingers with Catherine's. She grinned and allowed Catherine to flip through channels and find a show she preferred. Sara didn't watch T.V. so she had no idea what was what, but Catherine would know everything about the media. Anything that was good for Catherine should be good for her as well.

"Oh, this is good movie. Have you ever seen it?"

"I only read…but if you say it's good then it must be."

Catherine smiled and squeezed Sara's hand under the pillow. Sam had wandered off upstairs, probably looking for Lily. Sara turned to find him out of sight and thought to start up again with her girlfriend.

"You know…I'm not really interested in the movie anymore."

"Another round, Sidle? Jeez, for our first time this is getting pretty heavy."

"Well, I did like when you licked every scar on my thigh…but then you stopped and decided your fingers were a much better choice for my reproductive part."

"You're so dirty, Sara," Catherine sarcastically said as she smiled. "What would you like me to do?"

"Finish the job. I want you to go down on me."

"I can't do that here. Not on the couch."

"Then we'll go back to your room."

"Sam and my mom are up there. They're bound to hear us at least once."

Sara sighed, frustrated. "Then let's go somewhere."

"It's nine o'clock on a school night. Where the hell would we go?"

"The park!"

"But…that's close to where you live…right?"

"Technically it is. Three miles from my house, but none of them ever knew I went there. It's closer to the school then them. We won't get caught in the woods. Come on!" Sara tugged on Catherine's hand as she stood up and started for the door.

"I don't know. The woods? It'd be kind of messy."

"Blanket."

There they sat on a wool picnic blanket in the dead of the wood after dusk. The light blue hue lit their faces, but kept them undiscovered from passer-bys. They, as usual, commenced their exploration of each other's bodies with their tongues jammed down the other's throat.

"Okay," Catherine said before kissing Sara again. "Lay down." Another heated kiss.

Sara did as she was told, but only because she knew what came of it. Once laid out for the red head she felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach as Catherine unbuttoned and slowly unzipped her jeans. She clenched and unclenched her fists in bursts of excitement and anticipation.

"Take it easy," Catherine laughed as she planted a reassuring kiss on Sara's buzzing mouth. She then lowered her head to Sara's navel and kissed, dipped her tongue inside it. She then repositioned herself yet again even lower, at Sara's core.

Sara slammed her eyes tightly shut and grinned like the village idiot. She couldn't take the teasing anymore and wanted Catherine to do the deed, which of course was only more teasing, but it wasn't different. At least that's what Sara kept telling herself over and over again to keep her sanity and not feel like such a dork.

Catherine gave one quick swipe her tongue between Sara's folds and the brunette grunted. "You getting happy now?"

"I'm sporting a woman boner, okay?! Just give it to me."

"Wow, does sex get you cranky. Maybe I shouldn't do this. Maybe we should avoid sex altogether," Catherine grinned, knowing perfectly what those words would do to Sara.

"Catherine, if you don't deliver I'll be so pissed I'll pleasure myself…"

"Mm, that sounds promising," Catherine didn't let her finish her sentence before she entertained herself with naughty thoughts.

"Then I'll blab to the whole school you like fingers over dicks!"

"Whoa, we've never talked about that!" Catherine gave two quick swipes at Sara's threat and moved on to fully pleasure the brunette stretched out on the plaid blanket.

Ten minutes later, Sara was sex-crazed even more so and propping herself up on her forearms, her legs spread like a porn star, though because it was her it happened to be classier. Catherine moaned at the sight and again acted in a predator-prey scenario. She crawled on all fours to get to Sara and slicked two fingers instantly into Sara. Due to the moistness surrounding the area Catherine now had power over, things went swimmingly and Catherine pushed for a third finger.

"This might hurt a little at first," she confessed to Sara. "But I promise to be gentle and we can stop whenever you say… I hope you'll extend the courtesy."

"Of course, honey," Sara breathlessly attempted to be sweet and sincere. She felt Catherine slowly puncture her with an additional finger and curled her toes inward, her thighs tense. After a few seconds she got used to it and Catherine pushed further inside. Again the same thing happened until Catherine finally picked a good, slow motion from in and out with all three fingers.

For the two of them, it took a good half hour to equally get used to the amount of fingers inside themselves. When they had gotten the feeling in their system, they felt sore and tired. On top of that, Catherine had to drive them home. She was glad they covered new territory, but she felt it might have been too much for only one night especially when they had to wake up at six for school the next day.

They were home at a quarter to ten and Sam was impatiently tapping is feet and fingers in the living room under a lightly lit lamp. He was doing the father-waiting-up-for-his-daughter-that-needs-to-have-an-explanation-right-now impression and it was working wonders. Too bad he was only Lily's boyfriend…that Catherine knew.

"Where have you girls been? Lily and I were worried sick when we saw the car pull out of the driveway."

"Save it, Sam. My mother's asleep by now I'm sure and you were the only one getting 'worried'. You're not my father, so don't try to act like it. He didn't have the balls to stick around and take care of me. Just like I'll make sure is your story too!"

"Why do you keep trying to push me away?"

"Because my mom doesn't know what's right and wrong when it comes to you, you thug!"

"Are you sure you're just looking out for her, or do you think maybe you're protecting yourself from having me leave like your father?"

"Maybe it's both. All I know is that you're wrong for her and all you'll ever cause is pain. I don't know how the sex is, I don't want to know, but I'm guessing if you're good at pleasing her in the bedroom that's all she's really got you here for!"

"Mugs, listen to me! Your mother and I are in love. You can't help who you fall for. She and I…well, we wanted to run this past you later…when we figured you'd be ready to handle it, but…I'm your father."

Catherine's jaw dropped and Sara stared at her with wide eyes, concern and feat written all over her face. Then for the red head, everything went black and a thud was the last thing to resonate with her.

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**_Thanks for reading. Don't forget to submit reviews. :D_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_I don't know if this was what you were expecting, but here it is. And you're lucky I came back to update this story this weekend because I'm really sick. :( Damn colds, oh how they suck. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I'm not sure I'll be updating Sara Turns 21 today, but I'll see what I can do for you loyal readers. Thanks for all the reviews so far. :D_**

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Catherine's eyes fluttered open and slowly the fog glaze over her sight cleared. She felt a hand stroke her hair with the lightest most passionate touch that anyone could possess without being a mother. She turned her head and locked eyes with Sara who wore her trademark smile.

"Hey," she re-greeted her girlfriend.

Catherine swallowed and knitted her brows before relaxing her expression and mimicking Sara's chill yet chipper demeanor. "Hey…where am I? The last time I saw anything I thought was downstairs_."_

"You were, but I convinced Sam and Lily to back off and let me take you bed," she grinned and passed her fingers feather-like down Catherine's smooth cheek. "Of course…I didn't use those exact words."

Catherine lightly laughed and sat up a tiny bit in her bed. "Sorry if I scared you, but tonight has been more than enough excitement for me."

"Yeah, I get what you mean. This was one trying night."

Catherine wanted to take the heel of her hand and ram it against her forehead. "I am so sorry, Sara. You had to meet my parents, ugh…I hate saying Sam is my dad. But, you had to meet them, you can't go back home, we had sex…twice! Then, on top of all that, I have to go and faint just because I found out Sam is my dad. I'm such a drama queen!"

"No, you're not. It's perfectly natural for you to faint. It's a damn huge bomb to drop on you. The only thing I've had to deal with that you haven't is not ever going home, but the Sam equals dad makes us even."

"Huh, never thought of it like that. You didn't faint too, did you?"

"No," Sara chuckled before she dipped down and planted a small kiss on Catherine's forehead. "You were the only one in the house to fall flat on their face."

Catherine rolled her eyes and embarrassment swept across her cheeks and burned her. She rested her hands over her stomach and continued to relax on the bed. One look up into Sara's eyes and she knew her life had ultimate meaning. Sara could be her best friend and unconditionally support her. She wanted Sara and she had Sara. Things, of course, had moved all too fast, but that didn't matter when Catherine desired Sara from day one.

"you're still going to live with me, right? I mean…you're still going to stay here?"

Sara removed herself from the edge of the bed and mounted the red head. "The first time you asked sounded much better. Don't ever think for a single second that I never felt electricity when I gazed into those incredible blue eyes. As we grow, I'll make sure we grow together…not apart."

"Aw, you're so corny."

Sara playfully slapped Catherine's upper arm.

"But wait, electricity? Since when have you felt that before now? I knew I go a vibe from you…but electricity? You danced on our table at lunch for rebellious reasons toward me."

Sara blushed. "That wasn't the only reason."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well…at the time Nick held my affection, but as I started to really get into the dance…my rebellious act against you and for Nick turned into something completely when I started to like the way you stared at me. It was then that I understood the fire; the electricity."

Catherine sat up and seductively grinned as she moved in for a searing kiss. "We should probably go downstairs and let my mom know I'm okay."

"Are you ready to face Sam?"

"Ugh," she collapsed onto the bed. "I am so not calling him dad."

Sara smiled and tugged Catherine off the bed. They trotted downstairs hand in hand, but broke apart as they turned into view. "Oh, um, your sister came home after we hauled you upstairs."

"So you met Nancy, have you?"

"I have," Sara smiled and winked. "I'm in complete agreement with you on her character. She's a bit of a bitch and tag-along, oh, and don't forget attention hog."

"Yes," she punched back her arm as she hissed the single syllable.

"Oh, thank the heavens," Lily shook her clasped hands in front of her chest. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine."

"Good, good, I'm glad. I-I was going to tell Sam to take a walk, give you some space? But then he insisted he should go. He won't be back tonight."

Catherine immediately relaxed at the information. "Then I think 'm more that fine. It's just… a lot of things happened tonight. I think it was too much or one person."

Lily gave an understanding nod and tapped her fingers to her flattering curls. The day had taken its toll on the older red head and showed through her tired hair and droopy eyes. "I think I'm going to bed."

"Night, mom," Catherine called as her mother inched up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Ms. Flynn."

"Please, call me Lily. Goodnight girls," she almost ghostly stated as she headed to her room.

"Guess we really didn't need to come down here after all," Sara took Catherine's hand.

Nancy appeared from the kitchen with a purple Popsicle in her hand. Her hair was seriously blond, which caused Sara to question how Catherine couldn't fit the pieces together about her father.

"So…what are we going to do for the rest of the night," Nancy asked as if she going to a part of Sara's and Catherine's plans.

"Nothing that involves you, squirt. Besides, it's way too late to do anything. Go finish your homework or something," Catherine bumped her thirteen year old sister with her hip out of the way to get into the kitchen.

"Already finished it at Alison's…that's why it took me so long to get home, duh! And ouch, that hurt!"

Sara gave half an apologetic look and followed the red head. She saw Catherine bent over, ass out, head buried in the fridge. Sara licked her lips and sauntered over to her lover and friend.

"What'cha looking for? We have o get started on our homework, you know."

Catherine straightened out only half way and peered over the refrigerator door at her little sister. She gave a "get the hell out" glare and Nancy rolled her eyes seconds before bolting up the stairs and into her room.

Catherine backed up into Sara's body and forced the brunette's hands to wrap around her waist, over her stomach, fingers pointed at her belt buckle. She smiled as she molded into Sara's form and started rotating her ass as if she were giving a lap dance.

"Uh, Catherine…if we don't stop I'm going to say we need to go to one of those, um, sex addicts anonymous meetings."

Catherine wrapped her arms around the back of Sara's neck and plunged nearly against the floor, her backside parallel to the kitchen tile. "I'm just making sure I've still got it… That's all."

Her grin was apparent to Sara as she spoke and all the brunette could handle was to allow her eyes to roll back in her head. "Unh, no. Later. I'm not going to let my grades slip because of this new situation. We have to think about college, okay?"

"I've already been accepted somewhere," she kept her dance up though Sara tried hard to push her away.

"Well, then…it's really important for me. You want me to succeed, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," she grinded harder against Sara when all of a sudden they heard the distinct sound of glass shattering. They snapped their heads around and gripped each other's hands as they went into the living room for a better look.

Sara saw a rock on the floor with the shards of glass with a note roped onto it. She picked it up and looked outside to see if the culprit still had a lingering presence. She slid the note from its hold and unfolded it.

" 'If you lesbian bitches know what's good for you, you'll break up or something precious will just have to go'," Sara read aloud. Catherine tightly wrapped her hands around one of Sara's arms.

"Who would threaten us like this," Catherine asked Sara with a twinge of fear.

Sara gulped and shook her head. "I'm not sure, but someone knows we're together. We need to be especially careful, okay?"

"Who do you think it is?"

"Best guess? Someone our age; someone from school, but I can't be sure."

"Well, at least we're on the same page."

Sara gave a slight nod and escorted Catherine up the stairs. "We can fix the window tomorrow. Right now, let's focus on getting some sleep."

"What if they come back and break in?"

"You're right, uh, you got anything that'll board the window up well enough to last until a repair man can get here?"

"I think there's some wood in the garage. And I think we have some tools out in the shed, but I'm not one hundred percent sure. Sam's usually the one messing with that stuff. He mostly gets one of his bodyguards to fix something though."

"Let's get what you've got and work from there. It's our best bet."

Half an hour later, Sara clapped the wood off her hands and dumped the hammer back into the toolbox she and Catherine retrieved from the shed in the back yard.

"That should do it…for now."

Catherine pursed her lips and focused her attention on the ground around her bare feet. "It's almost eleven and we haven't done our homework. We should get started."

"We could play sick and get it finished during the day."

"My mom would never go for that. We were lucky to even have her agree to you staying here on a school night!"

"I'm used to doing my homework this late…so you can get some sleep and maybe you'll play hooky tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Sara…can we talk about why you're so used to doing your homework around now?"

"No, I'm really not in the mood. Someone's attempting to threaten us, threaten you! I only want to deal with one problem at a time."

"But Sara, if we don't talk about it…"

"Just leave it for now, Catherine!"

The red head's eyes flashed fear at Sara's harsh tone and instantly the brunette regretted her yelling.

Sara sighed. "I'm sorry, Cath, really. I don't mean to sound so cruel. It's just…overwhelming, you know? This night has been one of the longest nights of my life. And it really is starting to be next in line after the longest night of my life, which was so long I thought it would never end and not for any good reasons."

"Yeah, I know, I should've left it alone. It's tough. We should get some sleep or something. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You just want to take care of me," Sara playfully bumped her girlfriend with her hip. "I love that you care and want to cater to me. You have real beauty in that sense."

"Wait, so I'm only beautiful on the inside? That's the same as calling me ugly," Catherine feigned anger.

When Sara caught Catherine teasing, she crashed her lips to Catherine's and laced their fingers. "Shut up and take me to bed."

"Oh, Sara, do you have a way with women or what," Catherine stated sarcastically.

"You know what I meant…sex fiend."

Catherine stuck her tongue out at Sara and they headed up the stairs. She didn't want to take her chances, so Catherine gave an over-the-shoulder glance at the boarded window and locked front door. She gave a contented sigh and continued into her room with Sara leading the way.

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**_Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed! :P Send me a review. :D _**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Sorry it's kind of short, but I feel lucky to even be getting this update out at all. :( Doesn't mean you can't enjoy the chapter. :D_**

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"Ugh! I still don't get it. What does acceleration have anything to do with this problem?"

Sara smiled. "You need t to solve for the change in _x_."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"The change in _x _is distance, which is what the equation is asking for you to find."

"I hate physics" Catherine slammed her book shut. "Let's got o sleep. I'm tired."

"And frustrated."

Catherine scowled at the brunette and watched as Sara closed her own physics book.

"We only have three hours until we need to wake up for school. I don't see the point."

"The point is we'll have _at least _three hours," Catherine defended her position.

Sara shrugged and removed their schoolwork from the bed. Once the area was clear, Catherine made a move to lip under the covers. Sara furrowed her brows and looked from Catherine to her closet.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to put on some pajamas?"

"Why? It's only three hours, Sara."

"Or sleep in the clothes your going to wear today?"

"Are you?"

"I…don't have anything," Sara stared down at her feet. "We haven't gone shopping yet."

Catherine frowned at the memory. "Right. I'm sorry…Oh! You can borrow some of mine. Here."

Sara watched her girlfriend jump out of bed and search through the closet. "Um, I'm not sure you'll like anything I have…"

She brushed her fingers over the hangers and went all the way to her left, deep in the corner.

"Got it It's not perfect, but…"

Catherine turned with an outfit in her hand and a twinkle in her blue eyes. She held dark, blue jeans and a simple white V-neck that didn't plunge too far.

"It's pretty plain, but if you want we can paint it. Maybe that would keep us up for an all-nighter."

"Are you used to getting to sleep late," Sara took the outfit and stripped them from their hanger.

"Uh…yeah. Shift ends at two and when I get home, I work on my homework. I usually don't get to sleep until around four, if I'm lucky."

"Maybe we should get some shut eye. I think you could use it as a reward."

"How late do you stay up?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, come on, Sara. We both have things in our lives to hide. I take my clothes off for a living right now and last night you had to sleep at the park. Let me in."

Sara twiddled her thumbs and choked back the lump of her uneasy feeling. Images came crashing back and the memories emotionally pained her as much as they physically pained her at the time of their occurrence. She trusted Catherine, all too soon for her own comfort, but she felt safe with the seventeen year old.

She inhaled sharply, in desperate need of a deep breath and began, "Depends on his mood. If he is happy with his work, he let's me slink off to bed. If he is in a drunken rage, I won't find comfort in my room until it's time to get ready for school. A few times I've shown up late and my teachers figure its because I'm lazy and a waste of space. I swear they're best friends with him."

Catherine looked down at her lap after slowly taking back her spot on the bed. She felt guilty about pushing Sara into talking about the dark subject. "You talk as if he can still hurt you…he can't. Not anymore, Sara."

"I-I…one night he made me sleep in his bed in place of my mom. She was out getting high to 'quiet the voices' and because she didn't come home…I got stuck under his arm while he stoked my hair. He was going to watch me sleep, but he passed out before he could do anything else in attempt to relax me."

"I hate to ask, but…why didn't you slip out?"

"He-he's a light sleeper. I found that out one night when I woke up from a nightmare and went into the kitchen for a drink. On my way, I couldn't see where I was going or that my big brother would leave his sports equipment lying around. I tripped only a little, hardly noticeable, barely audible. Next thing I knew after opening the fridge, he growled behind me and slammed me face first against every surface I sight... I'm glad my brother goes to a different school. If he went to the same school…I could _never _escape."

Catherine cringed then stood and rubbed Sara's arms starting from her shoulders. Sara shut her eyes and relaxed at the contact. Catherine's touch was serene and calming and boy did she know it. Sara's reaction had all the conviction to prove how amazing Catherine could caress.

"You're safe now…I promise."

Sara nodded with closed eyes and let a few stray tears roll down her cheeks. She opened her deep, coffee bean brown eyes to her lover and friend who was nodded her support.

"Is it too early to say I love you?"

Both girls lightly laughed and Catherine swiped the pad of her thumb across the brunette's cheek midway. Catherine shook her head and smiled, ready to cry herself at the sight of Sara hurt. "We're in this together, babe. You and me against the world…so it seems."

Sara bit her bottom lip and sniffled. "Are you still up for painting that boring white shirt?"

Catherine giggled and nodded. She wrapped her arms all the way around Sara's lower back in a loving embrace. The hug lasted for well over a minute with Catherine occasionally rubbing her hand up and down Sara's back.

"What colors do you want," Catherine asked as she headed for her tiny desk for her paints.

"I don't know, but I was thinking the design could be a peace sign on the front and some kind of heart type thing on the back. Then maybe we could sign our names?"

"I think that's perfect," Catherine beamed. "We've never been on an official date yet and already I'm branding you in all sorts of ways."

Sara smiled at Catherine's grin. The red head was probably aware of the fact she had this instant sex appeal, but Sara had a feeling she didn't have a clue how special her powers could were. She took the paintbrushes from Catherine's hands and laid out the shirt on the floor.

Half an hour later they had deep green, hot pink, alluring purple, dark blue, and vibrant orange peace sign on the front of the shirt with '80's paint spatter as a background. The colors purposely and greatly dripped out of the lines of the symbol and spoke volumes about the character that wore it. All that was left was the heart and their "artist signatures".

The lock at the bottom of the stairs deliberately jiggled, but music was softly playing in Catherine's bedroom so the girls couldn't hear a thing from downstairs. They were laughing, but trying to manage the volume level as not to wake Lily.

Once the lock was broken, the perpetrator snuck into the kitchen and dropped off a box with Sara and Catherine's names on it. The box looked like a mini black coffin with one bright red rose tied down by a white, satin ribbon. The intruder wore a black beanie hat over his face with holes cut for the eyes and mouth. The rest of his attire consisted of black to keep him from being made.

The stranger scurried back out the same way he came in, but before he ran off, he scratched at the door in three tally marks, circling two of them.

Then he was gone with the door left partially opened. Twice in one night.

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**_Thanks for reading. Please don't feel afraid to send me a review. :) _**


	10. Chapter 10

**_Ah, does it feel good to get this update out. :D I'm happy to be posting again because A LOT has happened in this past week. I seriously almost had a panic attack because I parked somewhere I shouldn't have for school and my car could've gotten towed, so that was HUGE! But anyway, this update feels nice. I know it's pretty dark in the ways of mentioning Sara's past and the intruder, but I'm happy to give you readers something to stare at for a little while. ;)_**

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After the shirt was finished, the two had a mere hour and a half to rest before they had to start getting prepared for the day ahead. They were tired and they wanted nothing to do with the sun peeking out over the horizon, but eventually they would have to deal with the daylight.

"Do you want to sleep," Catherine yawned as she fluffed a hot pink pillow and tossed it to the head of the bed.

Sara mimicked Catherine's yawn and nodded as she rubbed her eyes with her knuckles. She felt as though she was being tended to like a mother should with her child and it felt amazing, but it was late and she was sixteen and it was her girlfriend, not her real mother that never did anything for her. The issues she had couldn't be resolved over night and they weren't something Catherine could kiss away. Sara was prodded with destructive parents who taught her a lousy childhood…and therapy would have to wait.

"Come here," Catherine tiredly commanded, but Sara knew she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. Not in their house, not with Catherine.

Sara peeled off her shirt and took a step closer to the bed. She felt awful in the jeans she had worn from earlier at the park, what with the morning dew from the morning and sleeping with them on the bench in the cold. She had been uncomfortable in them all day and now she could finally sip into something warm and dry.

Catherine propped herself up on her right arm and rested the right side of her face in her palm. She watched as Sara released her jeans from the control of her belt and shucked off her pants. She gasped and bit her bottom lip.

"You better keep those panties on or we won't get _any _sleep!" She smiled and touched her fingertips to her stomach and lifted the hem of her shirt to expose her own skin.

"You better keep that shirt right where it is," Sara warningly raised an eyebrow.

Catherine flashed a large smile and giggled. "Come on, get close to me."

Catherine removed her hand from her stomach and opened her arm to welcome Sara on the bed. Sara plopped down and bounced once before she stretched out in front of her girlfriend between the comfy cotton sheets. Catherine draped her arm around the brunette's waist and ran her middle finger in a circular motion over the cotton fabric.

"Mm," Sara moaned as her eyes grew heavy. Catherine's lids volunteered to close and all movement between the girls stilled.

--

"Girls," Lily hollered up the stairs with the aroma of French toast wafting through the vents. "Time to get up! It's Friday so you'll be able to sleep as long as you want when you get home!"

"Fuck," Sara muttered as she began to open her eyes. She shifted by turning toward Catherine and rolling onto her back. A familiar hand suddenly slipped between her thighs and cupped her. Her breath hitched and she gradually arched into the touch. "Oh…shit."

"Mm," Catherine started to wake. She kept her hand where it landed and sighed before she felt heated liquid graze her fingers. Her eyes finally bid themselves open and she saw Sara clench her fists and fight off moans. "Oh."

She knew she shouldn't have messed with Sara, but Catherine couldn't resist. She wickedly grinned and rubbed.

"You play dirty," Sara breathlessly strangled out.

Catherine winked and teasingly ran her hand back up between the brunette's folds. She then entirely removed her hand and sat up. "Time for food."

Sara gasped, baffled by Catherine's action as the red head bounded down the stairs with a satisfied smirk. She gave a dejected sigh and slapped on the home designed shirt. She headed over to Catherine's top drawer, hoped it was for her underwear, and was in luck. She grabbed the first pair she saw, which happened to be black lace. Afterward, she yanked on the dark jeans before following Catherine into the kitchen.

"There's your friend," Lily beamed, half concerned. "Maybe you can tell her what happened."

Sara looked over at Catherine who was as pale as a corpse. She furrowed her brows and heavy confusion flashed through her cocoa bean eyes. "Tell me what?"

"Mom found the door opened when she got down here this morning. There are stretches on it from forced entry. …They came back," Catherine shuffled to the side to reveal the mini-coffin still perfectly sealed. "Sometime last night…they broke in."

"Wait, you never said anything about a 'they'! Catherine, sweetheart, what's going on? Is that why the window is taped up?"

"Yeah," Catherine focused on he kitchen tile just beyond the tips of her toes.

Sara grimaced and stepped toward the box. "It's addressed to both of us.."

"It's okay, you can open it," Catherine involuntarily shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

Sara took a deep breath as Lily came up behind her. Curiosity killed the cat; no telling what it could do the three of them. She slowly empted fate as she slipped the ribbon off the box and let it flow to the floor. She held her breath and pried the lid from the body.

"Oh, my God," Sara dropped the top and clamped a hand over her mouth as she spun around toward the back door and sprinted for fresh air.

Catherine grimaced in preparation and stepped close to the "gift". When she finally willed herself to take a peek, her eyes rolled and she bolted out the door after Sara.

"Oh my God, oh my God," she repeated as she stumbled onto all fours in the grass and emptied her already empty stomach.

Lily's reaction was only minor, still concerned, but she only shook her head and caught up with the girls in the backyard.

"Why would somebody send you a bloody and blunt object with a bunch of tan, round bugs crawling around? What is it you two aren't telling me?"

Sara was breathing deeply as she desperately attempted to calm down and bounce back. Her forearm was heavily pressed against the porch steps post, her forehead rested on her arm and she forced stinging tears back into the ducts.

Catherine regained control of her body and stood with wobbly legs. She walked toward Sara, wore an even more pale face than she originally began the morning with, and ran her hand down the sixteen year old's back. Lily sighed and furrowed her brows. Something seemed wrong, but she couldn't understand. No one would talk to her and it was _her _house.

"I hate to sound like a mean old witch, but you girls need to eat something before you go off to school. I'll talk to Sam about getting some protection and maybe he'll send bodyguards to the school later today."

Catherine wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gulped down a lump that formed in her throat. She didn't want Sam to get involved, but she couldn't say no to muscle when someone wanted to play sick games with the her and her love. She nodded and began walking back into the house with Sara on her heels. Neither had a single idea as to who would send them such gruesome things. It seemed like a random creep that had seen them around somewhere at some time and was way too homophobic for the world.

Catherine didn't want to rule out the crazy person as one of her customers, or even her boss for that matter, but she said nothing to either her mother or her partner. The more worry, the less good that could come from anything fun.

"Um, I'm not really all that hungry now, mom. Do you think we could take something to go and have it later? Just in case we get our appetites back before lunch?"

"Sure, I could do that," Lily half-heartedly smiled. "Uh, dear, how long will you be staying with us? Should I be expecting another sleepover tonight? Your parents wouldn't mind, would they?"

Sara plastered the best smile she could muster up on her face and nodded. "If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to stay for a while. Maybe for the rest of the week?"

"Oh, well…I wouldn't mind, but won't your parents want you home?"

"No, they're fine with me staying here. They're busy a lot, so they hardly see me anyway," Sara nervously laughed her way through the statement.

"Oh, alright. What time should I expect you girls home," Lily addressed her daughter this time.

"Well…I was going to take Sara shopping after school, so…no later than six thirty."

"Okay. What would you like for dinner," she asked either one of them.

"We'll grab something at the food court in the mall. No worries, mom."

"Well, it's no trouble for me to make something. My cooking is free…and healthier."

"Don't sweat it. You work too much as it is," Catherine cracked a smile and kissed her mother on the cheek before she headed to the front door and swiped her backpack off the floor against the base of the staircase. Sara smiled at Lily and followed in Catherine's footsteps.

--

Catherine had transferred into Sara's Physics class less than two days before and had a lot to catch up on. She was glad she was in the same class as her girlfriend though because Sara was best at science. She sat astute and twittered a pencil between her index and middle finger. She bit her bottom lip while Sara intently listened to the teacher explain the experiment they were about to perform.

"So today…we're going to make a ramp and measure how fast the tennis ball travels its allotted distance. We're going to need measuring sticks, so…" the instructor pulled out four yard sticks and tossed them over his shoulder like a professional baseball player would do with several bats to build strength in his hits.

Catherine heard a light gasp sound from the desk beside her and turned her head to see Sara wide-eyed in fear. She looked all too innocent and all too scared. It made Catherine feel useless, as though what she was doing to help the brunette meant absolutely nothing because she was broken not damaged.

Sara tensed at the shoulders and her entire body became stone stiff. She had unpleasant memories with long, wooden sticks she would rather suppress, but with her father being as insistent as he was, she could never erase those horror-movie nights. She braced herself and ogled the sticks in her male teacher's hands as he moved past her, through the row to the front of the room for a demonstration. She jumped when she felt a cold, but delicate and familiar hand on her wrist outstretched from the left of her.

Catherine warmly smiled in reassurance for her girlfriend and tenderly rubbed Sara's wrist in comfort. She knew Sara had dealt with a lot in her past and it wasn't fair, so she understood with perfect clarity that it could be her job to calm Sara down and undo all the lesson's her family ever instilled in her.

"It's okay," she whispered as the teacher droned on with the instructions. "He's not going to hurt you. No one is. Not if I can help it."

Sara's lips curled at the corners into a friendly smile, a stifled and reserved laugh just for Catherine, with her eyes that possessed a certain glimmer all her own. Catherine recognized it as the true Sara Sidle. The Sara that had been locked away in her father's lashes and hate-filled eyes, her mother's helpless state, and her brother's mirrored actions of their father.

"Thanks," Sara whispered back.

Catherine slid her hand from over Sara's and the junior dragged her attention back to the experiment. Catherine flipped her notebook open to a clean page and wrote in red marker. Once she had finished carefully writing the sentiment, she folded it into a small square and reached over to place it in front of Sara's hands on her desk.

Sara looked down at the action, then looked over at the beaming Catherine who's eyes were focused dead ahead. Sara peeled her eyes off Catherine's angelic features and stared back down at the note. She unfolded the tiny paper until it was back to its original size. The words written were: I love you.

Sara's face broke into a sharp smile and a blush crept up her cheeks as she considerably relaxed. She turned to Catherine, who at that time stared into the blissful brown eyes of her lover's, and mouthed the exact three words plus, "too".

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**_Your turn! Tell me what you think. Be constructive if you'd like. The more help I get, the more I understand how to please you._**

**_ "I only mean to please you, Elizabeth." Heh heh. English has been the main focus in school for me and I can't get _The Crucible _out of my head even though we stopped talking about it weeks ago._**


	11. Chapter 11

**_Sorry it isn't very long. I told you readers I would have this and the next chapter of my other fic up over the weekend, but Monday is better than waiting a whole other week, right? I'm going to try and update Welcome to Vegas tomorrow, but this time...no guarantees because I haven't started writing it yet. :( _**

**_ANYWAY, ENJOY THIS CHAPTER! :D_**

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The bell rang for lunch and Catherine and Sara walked almost joined at the hip to the cafeteria. To be discreet, they linked pinky fingers as they strolled through the lunchroom and got in line for the day's hot plate.

"So…what store do you want to go to after school," Catherine asked with a smile.

"Um, I don't know…I've never really been shopping before," Sara confessed. "My dad usually took scare of everything. He brought my mother's clothes so he bought my clothes. My brother would go with him, but it was part of their 'bonding'. I knew the only reason why my dad bought our clothes was so he could have more control over us women."

Catherine cringed and tightened her pinky's grip around Sara's tiniest finger. "I guess I'll just take you to where I usually shop and go from there. How does that sound?"

"Exhausting," Sara sighed. She waited until, out of the corner of her eye, she caught her girlfriend's smile, and mimicked it.

"I don't doubt your logic for a second," Catherine winked.

They got their meals and headed outside, under their usual tree where the boys already waited. They sashayed in sync as they guys looked up and smiled while they waved over the happy couple.

"Hey, how'd it go last night," Greg asked as he looked the couple up and down. "Damn!"

Catherine Sara turned to one another, unmistakably confused. After they communicated their mental shrugs, they redirected their attention at Greg, his eyebrows repetitively shot to top of his forehead.

Catherine rolled her eyes while Sara asked with a tiny smile, "Really? Is it that obvious?"

"It's natural for Catherine to glow, but not as much as she is today. She's not too much brighter though. What the hell happened after?"

"Dead things," they somehow simultaneously answered.

Warrick, Nick, and Greg all jumped back in concern and slight bewilderment.

"One, what the hell is Greg talking about," Nick needed clarity.

"Sex," Catherine and Sara simultaneously answered and rolled their eyes.

"Oh."

Warrick shook his head. "Now clarify 'dead things'."

Catherine looked over her ex-boyfriend. His features were worn, he appeared tattered, tired. His brows were knit in their confusion and he sounded lost.

She grimaced.

"Well, we really didn't see anything dead…but some sicko sent us a bloody object. I suggests murder, but there's no real proof," Sara elaborated.

"Wait, wait, wait. You mean to tell us someone's stalking you," Greg piped up with worry that brought his voice up an octave.

Catherine finally gave up her stare and nodded. She looked beside her at Sara when her eyes fell to her girlfriend's hand she had held moments before. She laced their fingers and motioned with her tray for the couple to take their places.

Sara smiled and gave a tiny nod before they picked their plot and made themselves comfortable in the grass.

"We decided not to talk about it," Sara spoke for them.

"Ah, that would be smart…if this person wasn't a threat," Nick rejoined the conversation with his two cents.

"Have you notified the police? They could really help," Warrick let his serious and powerful green eyes do all the talking.

"Sam," Catherine uttered under the control of Warrick's gaze.

He sighed and ran his hand down his face.

"Hey…are you okay," Catherine softly asked as she reached out and tapped Warrick's shoulder before he subtly pulled away. She frowned and Sara kissed the crook of her neck.

"Yeah, Cath, I'm fine. I'm just tired. A lot's been happening."

Sara then shared Catherine's frown. Something seemed off; like the last puzzle piece that wouldn't fit.

--

" I can't believe you're going to work," Sara folded her arms across her chest.

"I can't just quit, Sara. It's not that simple," Catherine tried to reason with her.

They sat in Catherine's car that was idle in the driveway. Her plan was to drop Sara off and go in to work early to discuss why she had been absent the previous night. Things obviously hadn't gone as planned.

"I know," she sighed, regaining control of herself. "I'm sorry. I just don't like how you gave all the privacy in the world and yet…you expose your body to a bunch of strangers. If I had what you had, I wouldn't destroy the one thing I could keep scared."

"Please don't make me feel worse. I don't want to do what I do, but I need the money for college…plus, I want to fight Sam as much as possible. He's sleeping with my mother for Christ's sake!"

"Yeah, but because he's your dad…that kind of gives him the right!" Sara didn't want to cry, but her voice wavered as though tears would fall.

"Are you taking his side? I can't believe it. My girlfriend would rather side with the man who didn't have the balls to stick around take responsibility for is daughters."

"I'm _not _taking his side, but if that's all you're stripping for…our a little too shallow for my taste," she spat.

Catherine gasped with disgust. "You should consider yourself lucky I'm not cruel enough to send you out of my house and back to those wretched parents of yours. Get out and go inside! Now! This discussion is over."

--

When Catherine got in front work, she came home to find her bed completely in use as Sara had sprawled herself out to finish her homework. She had fallen asleep with her hips facing the ceiling, her chest pointed in the direction of the door and her textbook. Her feet were curled behind her, her head was rested upon her right arm that draped over the open book.

She inwardly laughed, but remembered the singing words of her girlfriend. She put on her poker face with a sigh and went for pajamas in her closet.

After she slipped into comfortable clothes, she made her way to what little of the bed Sara didn't use. As she approached Sara, she noticed old scars on her arms. They weren't scars though they were track marks. There were three of the marks on her right arm with what appeared to be hesitation marks.

Catherine gasped. The separate marks weren't from hesitation, but force. She had been forced to take drugs on more than one occasion. Catherine knew from having seen Sara naked, her girlfriend had healing, deep wounds on her lower stomach and below the waistline. She hated herself for having overlooked Sara's arms. She felt horrible seeing those marks, even more so coming to the conclusion her hone life was more than rape. She could have become addicted to the drugs f they pushed them any further on her. Her mother was the one with the drugs, her mother hadn't protected her and here Catherine was shouting about how shallow she wasn't as she exposed every bit of innocence she had.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Sara before giving her girlfriend a peck on her forehead. She then removed the book from the bed and slid behind her lover.

They went to the store earlier and bought several "skater" outfits. All that happiness created exhaustion so Catherine wasn't expecting Sara to be awake when she got back, but after their fight it was disappointing not to have the chance to talk about it. She figured the talk could wait until the morning…or later.

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**_Please review so I can get into your minds! :D I love hearing what you think. :) Thanks for reading. :)_**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Hot off my Word Document! :D I just finished this chapter and thought it best to IMMEDIATELY post it for you. :) Personally, I think this chapter is a lot of fun, but that's just me talking about what I got to right. It's a nice change for me because Catherine's a cheerleader so I wrote a few things about it. If you knew me, you'd know I'm no cheerleader (never have been, never will be). So that's probably why I'm saying it was too much fun. ;) _**

**_ANYWAY, enjoy this chapter. And thanks for all the great reviews. You're all so nice. :D_**

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"Are we going to talk about it," Catherine asked as she head hunted between the road and her girlfriend.

"I don't know. Are you her chest quit?" Sara had her arms folded over her chest, her jaw tightly set shut and anger boiled within, shown through her eyes.

Catherine closed her mouth and blinked back tears. "I told you I don't want to quit. I want the money.

"Well, at least now you admit you don't _want _to quit contrary to last night when you said 'it's not that easy'."

"Sara…" Catherine hesitated and glanced over her girlfriend's rigid features. She rested her hand on Sara's thigh as she tightened her grip with her other hand on the steering wheel. "I'm thinking about moving out. I can't do that without money and I don't _want _to do that without you."

Sara cut her attention to Catherine with sheer concern. "Why the hell would you want to move out? You're almost eighteen now anyway."

"Exactly. I want to be on my own, with you, and away from Sam."

"Well, I think that's going to be difficult since he's tailing us."

"What?" Catherine almost veered of the road. "Why is he following us?"

"My best guess? I'd say he's our bodyguard today."

"My mom would _not _have told him to watch us like we're five years old again, would she?"

"I don't know. She's _your _mom."

"Yeah, I know, so sue me for not being able to choose my parents. Even if she did get a hold of him, he's never the one to get his hands dirty.

"Maybe he's trying to grab a pair and be Super Dad."

"Maybe he shouldn't try so hard," Catherine grinded her teeth.

Sara felt Catherine's hand slip away from her thigh and grasped t with her own. She slid it up further to the point where Catherine's fingers lightly rested against the inseam of Sara's pants in an extremely sensitive area.

Catherine's anger dissipated and she choked the non-existent life out of the steering wheel. Sam flashed his headlights twice as a warning because Catherine kept swaying toward the right and left sides of her lane.

"Relax, babe. For the record, we'll be fine if you can afford to get us a nice place free of roaches, gang on the corner, heavy prostitution and drug dealers."

Catherine spared another glance at Sara who grinned like an evil genius as she guided Catherine's hand to her burning flesh about the waistline. They both knew where it was going. Catherine darted her eyes back onto the road and stopped at a red light. When she looked back at Sara with wide eyes and heavy breathing, Sara forced the hand to dive underneath the pantie and over her curls.

"Shit, Sara" Catherine breathlessly managed.

Sara gave a low giggle and ran Catherine's hand through her naturally moist folds.

"Un," Sara gave a guttural moan.

The sound of a car's horn behind them startled the girls back to the road. The light turned green while they were otherwise engaged and the honking man was none other than Sam.

Sara turned in the passenger's seat and looked trough the back window to see the confused casino owner behind the wheel. She laughed as Catherine took a deep breath, groaned, and hit her head back against the seat all while she stepped on the gas.

--

"Remember, I have cheer practice after school. My last class is English so meet me halfway to the gym?"

"Yeah, of course," Sara smiled. She wrapped her arms around her lover and they kissed right as the first bell of the day rang.

"I love you," Catherine confessed with her low tine.

"I love you, too," Sara used her own low tone to admit.

They walked off in separate directions for their first class and wouldn't see each other until their fourth class before lunch.

A knock on the classroom door brought Sara out of her reverie.

"Mr. Thompson needs Sara Sidle in his room for the rest of the period," Catherine handed over a small, white slip of paper to the teacher.

"Oh, okay. Good luck on the project, Ms. Sidle," her second period teacher smiled by way of excusing the brunette.

Sara gulped and forced a smile with her cheeks burned lobster red. She followed the confident and sneaky Catherine into the hall and when the door closed, her eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"I can't believe you just did that!"

Catherine laughed and attempted, to the best of her ability, to hold back tears of laughter as they continued through the halls.

"I can't believe you actually went along with that!"

Sara relaxed when Catherine sprung herself onto her and mauled her with her lips and tongue. They hit a set of lockers with Sara's back, but in an instant Catherine tore away and dragged Sara by the hand to the football field.

"Why are we here anyway," Sara asked with a hinted of laughter coated by her inquiry.

"Normally…I would've pulled you out here for a smoke, but today…" she trailed off with a seductive smirk.

Catherine attacked Sara for the second time that day under the bleachers with her tongue viciously rolling around the inside of Sara's mouth and her hands feeling every last inch of the brunette's frame.

"We're going to the field house for a little while to play a game."

Sara breathlessly nodded in agreement and furrowed her brows as Catherine again dragged her further away from the school building. Once inside the field house, Catherine threw herself on her girlfriend for the umpteenth time.

"Mm…what game…are we gonna…play," Sara asked between their passionate kisses.

Catherine emitted a sexy giggle before she worked on undoing her jeans. She pushed them down to her ankles and stepped out of them one at a time as she wrapped her legs around Sara's waist.

"Ah, I see," Sara let out a pass of breath meant as a small chuckle. She wrapped her arms around Catherine's backside and squeezed.

"Unh," Catherine moaned as she tipped her head back. Her hair was in a ponytail for cheerleading, but Sara preferred the red locks down around her face.

Sara pulled on the stylish rubber band and released Catherine's hair from its confinement. She bit her bottom lip when red cascaded around Catherine's sharp, taut cheekbones.

Catherine lifted her lips in her seductive half-grin and wrapped her lips around Sara's with her hands on the back of Sara's neck. She shifted her weight in order to better stay in Sara's grasp and lightly ran her hands down her girlfriend's back.

Sara ran her finger's up under Catherine's panties and raked her nails over the firm and smooth skin.

"Mm," Catherine broke off the kiss to tip back her head again as Sara brought her lips mere inches away from Catherine's neck and began kissing. "Oh, that feels so good."

Sara smiled as she slid her tongue over the places she kissed and nipped at the nape of her neck. She then maneuvered them to a random wood table and set Catherine on top of it. Slickly, Sara tucked her forefingers in the sides of the lace material and pulled it south. When Catherine was left with only her bra and shirt, Sara grinned and got on her knees.

"This is part of the game, right?"

Catherine laughed and shook her head. "Anything you do from here on out is part of the game."

"Good because I would hate to not be able to do this," Sara said before she leaned in and ran her tongue through Catherine's folds.

"Unh," Catherine squeezed her eyes shut tight and moved her hand to Sara's hair. She gripped a fist full and occasionally used her fingertips to guide Sara to the spot she needed her most at that point.

--

"You guys must really love sex," Greg greeted the girls as they sat under the tree.

"Excuse me?" Nick nearly coughed up the last bite of food he ate.

Catherine and Sara began to blush and looked at each other with wild, hidden secrets in their eyes.

"Of course we do…and since we're partners that means no time with our own devices," Catherine winked as she suggestively referred to masturbation.

Nick blinked a few times, not sure he heard correctly while Warrick chuckled and Greg grinned.

To intensify the situation for the guys, Sara grinned and grabbed Catherine's chin with her thumb and forefinger. She turned Catherine to her and closed the distance between their lips before they both parted their lips and engaged in a slow, sensual French kiss.

"Oh, that is so incredibly hot," Greg drooled.

Nick blinked several times again, still not sure if his senses worked correctly. Warrick smiled before he looked down and thought about his time spent with Catherine. They had shared a few kisses much like the ones she and Sara where displaying, but it seemed right when Sara was the other in the picture.

Catherine and Sara then split and giggled. Greg shook his head to clear sexual thoughts involving his two female friends as not to get an erection at school, in front of his friends and many more.

"Okay, show's over," Catherine announced as she settled for lacing her fingers with Sara.

"Aw," Greg groaned with major disappointment. Sara and Catherine could only laugh.

--

"Shake your ass for me," Sara smiled as she let go of Catherine's hand so her girlfriend could practice and lead.

"Always," Catherine seductively grinned with sparkling bedroom eyes. She skipped over to the squad and instantly took charge as any captain would do. "Okay, let's start with the routine and then we'll get into our tumbles. Ready?"

The girls got into their places and Catherine conducted a count off after commanding another girl to start up the music. Sara let the beat infect her as she watched Catherine at the head of the squad dance her best. She appeared normal when she moved in all sorts of ways with her clothes on and smiled. Sara knew it was Catherine's place. She belonged on a stage, but she didn't need to shed her clothes for talent.

Catherine took three steps to her right, as did the rest of the group, and clapped before they did an upper cut like move with their right arms and lifted their right knees. They held with their knees in the air for two beats before they swung it around and had their backsides to the imaginary audience. They gave two shakes, one to the right and one to the left. Afterward, they jumped back around to face the invisible crowd and Sara.

Sara looked up Catherine's body until their eyes met and the big blue eyes held passion and desire. Sara recognized them as her bedroom. Catherine hopped to the point where her front faced the wall to her right, but she, as well as the team, kept their heads facing forward, toward the audience.

They pumped their left arms and did a somewhat eighties workout move. Catherine kept her eyes locked with Sara's while she gave more emphasis to certain moves involving her chest and ass.

Sara admired the fact that Catherine's hair remained down around her face since their "game" in the field house and changed into short, yellow, cotton shorts that accentuated her toned thighs and calves. She unknowingly licked her lips and Catherine grinned as she moved to flow into her cartwheel turned back flip to eventually a screw turn in the air where her hip rotated over her head; a flawless tumble.

Catherine took a deep breath that caused her chest to pop up to where it nearly touched her chin. The other girls on the squad stared at her with envy, which caused Sara to smile. She watched with amazement for the rest of practice and when all the other girls had vacated the gym, she wrapped her arms around Catherine's waist from behind.

"You were extraordinary, babe," Sara smiled before she kissed Catherine on the neck.

Catherine smiled as she bent over to stuff a few things in her sports bag and grabbed her water bottle. She took a large sip from it before she gently laid her hand on Sara's upper thigh to push her back. Sara stepped back with a surge of heat rush through her body and down to her core.

The next few moments played in slow motion in her head as Catherine poured the remaining contents of the bottle on her face. The water swept down between her breasts, under her shirt, and her dry lips parted with her eyes relaxed shut by the pleasure the cold liquid brought her over heated body.

Sara opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water as she looked Catherine up and down. She re-approached her lover and, with wide eyes, took the bottle out of Catherine's hands and placed it on the bench with Catherine's bag. With each movement, she never took her eyes off Catherine's and before either knew it, their lips locked.

Soon before long, Sara's mouth wandered over the trail of the water and reheated Catherine's body. Catherine tilted her head and her hair fell back with her in the fluffed, puffball, state it was in at that time. The gym door opened, but neither could hear over the sounds of their labored breathing and heartbeats. What the did happen to notice was the sharp light flash before the two of them and shuffling feet disappearing back outside of the gym.

The couple became startled as instantly as the flash came and went and threw their eyes open in a blind panic.

"What the hell was that," Catherine asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think more than likely it's our little stalker," Sara hoarsely said.

Catherine snatched her bag and clutched Sara's hand with a death grip.

"Let's go home," she nervously commanded, her voice a wavering mess.

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**_Thanks for reading. And...I think I will be double posting for one of these stories, but I still need to know what you guys think! :) Send me a review. I don't bite...not virtually anyway. ;)_**


	13. Chapter 13

**_Hope this one's long enough for you. :) HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! :D_**

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"Did you see someone come through here," Catherine and Sara rushed to the driver's side of Sam's "undercover" car.

"What? Why do you sound worried, Mugs?" Immediately, Sam shot himself upright in the car and glanced around for any unwanted strangers.

"Somebody came into the gym and snapped a picture of us," Catherine appeared distraught, on the brink of tears.

"Damn it! Get in the car," Sam commanded in furry.

"But what about…"

"Just get in the car, Catherine," Sam shouted, loud enough to cause Catherine to jump and Sara to grit her teeth in grimace.

Sara took Catherine by the elbow and ushered her into the back of the SUV Sam used for surveillance. The second the door shut, Sam sped off and brought the girls home in record time. Once inside, Sam rushed to the phone and made a call to his hired muscle.

"I need you to help keep my daughter and her friend safe. Some ass is after them and managed to get picture of them. I don't want to involve the cops just yet. I want this freak to be as scared as they are, exact revenge. Yes, as soon as possible I'd like you to canvas the area. Yeah, park in the street and keep an eye out."

Catherine and Sara remained close as they headed up the stairs and into Catherine's room. Sara sat at Catherine's desk and laced her fingers together in her lap.

"Normally, my dad is the only thing that gets me shook up like this…but I've got to give our stalker props. They've got me shaking in my Converse."

Catherine finally let go and tears streaked her pale cheeks. "What's going to happen, Sara? If-if this person gets us where we're wanted…what happens?"

Sara hesitated and gulped. She ran her hands up hand down her arms to warm herself as she stood and made her way onto the bed, next to her girlfriend.

"I don't know, but we're going to have plenty of protection. Right now, I think they just want to mess with us. The only thing I think they'll do is post the picture somewhere or something to mortify us. No big deal, right?"

Catherine nodded as she took a deep breath. "Right."

Sara nearly stood completely upright when Catherine tugged on her arm. "Could you stay here with me? In the bed, I mean. Don't get up and go somewhere else. Just…hold me until I fall asleep?"

Sara showed a light smile and gave a quick nod as she lay down with Catherine, her arm draped over her lover's stomach. "Is this okay?"

"It's perfect. Thank you," Catherine cozied into Sara embrace.

--

Dawn spread through the split in the curtains covering Catherine's bedroom window. A new day started without the threatened couple, but they were drained from school and being stalked by a secret and sick admirer so it was understandable how they had managed to sleep in for once.

"Mm, what time is it," Sara groaned through her sleep as she commenced her routine morning stir.

Catherine continued with her even breathing as she absorbed Sara's body heat and enjoyed her rest. Though Sara gripped her left love handle, that wasn't much of a love handle, and shook the red head a few times, Catherine hardly moved.

Sara pushed harder.

"Mm," Catherine knitted her brows and rolled over, obviously still trying to sleep.

"Ugh," Sara groaned and rolled her eyes. "Catherine!"

The brunette looked over her shoulder at the clock and realized they were running late. Her eyes shot wide open and she violently shook Catherine.

"Come…on!"

Catherine mumbled in a growl, "Leave me the fuck alone."

Sara sighed and climbed on top of her girlfriend. Her knees were bent and beside the red head's breasts as her core rested on Catherine's lower torso. But even the extra weight didn't affect Catherine so Sara resorted to her girlfriend's way of the game they called waking up your lover. She curled her fingers around Catherine's panties under her shorts and pulled them both down south. She remained on Catherine's torso though, so she was reaching behind her to remove Catherine's garments.

"I can't believe your mom didn't make us," Sara muttered as she slid down Catherine's body. "And how the hell are you sleeping through all this?"

Catherine emitted an enormous sigh, but refused to open her eyes.

Sara put her face inches away from Catherine's sex, tightly pursed her lips and blew a controlled amount of air on Catherine's clit.

Catherine's hips bucked and her knees lifted toward the ceiling. Sara grinned.

"What else do I have to do before you get up? We're late enough as it is…and today's a Friday."

"Mm," Catherine groaned as she knitted her eyebrows for the second time.

"Friday means pep rally, which also means if you're late…they might not let you cheer."

"Damn it," she groaned. She gave a sigh and commanded, "Lick."

Sara chuckled and lowered her head. She pushed Catherine's thighs apart with her palms and thumbs. She allowed one slow movement of the tip of her tongue up between Catherine's folds.

"Unh," Catherine moaned. "Now I'm motivated for the day. Thank you."

They shared a laugh before Sara said, "Let's go. We've got class after class to sit through."

--

"Hey, Catherine, why don't you sit with us for the day," the co-captain of the squad smiled as she and three other girls from the team headed toward the main doors to the school.

"Uh, no thanks, Jess," Catherine politely smiled.

Jess flashed a sardonic grin as she looked from Catherine to Sara before turning and walking into the school.

"Wow, what a snotty girl," Sara stated with a disgusted look.

"Most of them are. …Didn't you use to think I was stuck up, too?"

"At one point," Sara smiled, a blush creeping up to the surface of her cheeks. She stared down at her feet with obvious embarrassment and made her left foot dance, her toes digging through her shoe, into the cement sidewalk. "But then I dance for you…that's when everything changed."

"For the better I hope," Catherine reached out and laced their fingers.

"Of course," Sara smiled. "And you know I'd kiss you right now if we weren't here."

"Right back at you," Catherine smiled.

Sam walked up behind the two and furrowed his brows at their linked hands.

"Mugs?"

Catherine and Sara whipped around and let o of the other's hand. Both their smiles disappeared and they soon remembered why he was there.

"Hi," Catherine curtly greeted.

"Listen, we got a lead on who this guy might be. A man around mid-forties, unstable looking, bought a Polaroid camera yesterday about an hour before your cheerleading practice ended. We couldn't get any clear a description than shaggy and menacing. But…if you see a man fitting that description, get my attention."

"Like we wouldn't already do that," Catherine muttered.

Sara tapped her girlfriend's side with her knuckles and nodded for the both of them.

"Sure thing, Mr. Braun."

"Thank you and…call me Sam."

Again, Sara nodded. Sam then turned and made himself invisible, scoping out the surrounding area of the school.

"Let's just get this day over with," Catherine groaned as she and Sara entered the building.

--

The one class, it seemed, that Catherine didn't share with Sara, was made up of the co-captain and two other snobby characters from the squad.

"Hey, Catherine," Janelle, one of the two untitled cheerleaders, struck up a side conversation with her captain. "I heard you're ditching us yet again for lunch. Those losers you hang out with…what's so special about them?"

"They're my friends," Catherine answered with disgust toward Janelle.

"Really," she snorted her question with a wicked yet whispered laugh. "Because as a cheerleader, and captain no less, you're supposed to only give those more fortunate the opportunity to befriend you. Being on the team means acting like royalty so everyone else will see as for what we are, which of course is…royalty!"

Janelle's charming smile only made Catherine want to punch her, but that would do no good for her or for Sara. All she really needed was one more push from another teammate though, and she would crack like Humpty Dumpty.

"Yeah, okay. How about I turn you into one of the _less _fortunate and beat the life out of you? Does that work?"

Maybe one more person was an overstatement.

"And what about that girl? The guys really aren't the problem except for that dork with the weird hair, but that girl reads as a total dyke. You hanging out with her makes you look as bad as her," Alexa, the other untitled cheerleader in the class, spoke up.

Catherine grinded her teeth and took as deep and claming breaths as possible as she turned to the front of the class, paying attention only to the teacher.

Jess looked back at Janelle and Alexa with a raised eyebrow. They all shared the same thought at that point, but figured it best to follow Catherine's lead and deal with their rising issues later. Instead of completely following Catherine's example though, they began to write notes.

"_Do you think she's a lesbian," _Jess' first note asked_. _

"_She seemed hurt when we said something about that dyke…maybe," _Janelle shrugged as she got a glare from Jess.

"_When should we press her about it," _Alexa asked.

"_We won't. Let's snoop, see what we come up with…then…if the facts are there…we can screw with them," _Jess took charge. In the corner of her note there was even an evil face written with passion. The other two grinned as the evil face did and nodded their heads like a bobble head doll.

Catherine turned to see what the grinning was about, but it was too late. The only thing she noticed was that they were cooking up a scheme as Jess turned to face Catherine and devilishly yet silently giggled. She gulped, but not because the girls were a force she couldn't handle, but because she felt pressured among other things. It was one more thing to drag her down into the darkness along with the stalker at large.

Though she rarely showed it, even in front of Sara, the stalker got to her. She just hated to show weakness because then question after question about if she was okay would turn into internal questions of her own such as "Where's the rope? No rope. Fine, who's got a gun? I'll pay you to give me the gun."

The ball rang and Catherine hurried her sweet ass out the door and to the football field. She needed time by herself and time for a smoke. Hopefully Sam had his sights on the rest of the establishment. He would berate her for all eternity if he caught her with a cigarette captured between her lips and probably rat on her to her mother. That would not be an argument to look forward to, but then again none of the arguments she had with her mother were a popular choice.

"Hey, if you'll who it is," Catherine's smoking buddy smiled as she twirled with her cigarette femininely placed between her middle and forefinger.

"Kendra," Catherine widely smiled. "Hey, I haven't seen you in what feels like ages! How've you been?"

"Great. You still parading around with those idiot pom-pom pumpers?"

"Ha, yeah, but we're all having a large disagreement right now. I'm not really friends with them and don't sit with them at lunch anymore…but I'm still a cheerleader like them."

"Well, maybe you'll ditch them and stay a dancer at the club…only more full time then when you would stay after for cheer practice."

"Yeah, but I have someone else keeping me home."

"Sam?"

"Girlfriend. I trust you enough to not go telling the entire club."

"Or school. Understood. You can count on me to keep these lips sealed," Kendra smiled.

Catherine gave a small laugh and proceeded with her plans to suck a cancer stick to the butt.

--

"Hey, I missed you in Physics," Sara greeted Catherine at lunch with more than a twinge of concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I was under the bleachers. Sorry," she avoided eye contact.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Catherine tried to swat away the problem.

"Fine, I'll give you the space you're silently asking for…but that's because I trust you'll come to me when things are truly difficult for you." Sara rubbed Catherine's bicep a few times then grabbed her plate lunch and started for their usual tree.

"Hey, ladies," Nick greeted the strained couple from the grass.

"Hey," they simultaneously responded as they found spots on the ground with the three guys.

Silence ensued for a whole two minutes before Greg had to break it with his goofy-ness.

"So, did you hear about the nerd that farted loudly in computer science? It was the biggest fart ever and nearly knocked out the teacher! It smelled bad too. Like rotten eggs."

The group almost spit their food out at the fast informing Greg Sanders and the information he was quickly passing on. Lunch would, from that moment on, always have to top Greg's inappropriate interruptions with a boyishness many people forgot when they group up and became productive members of society. Mostly when they worked at a crappy job and paid taxes with graying and balding hair and of course, the real world at its best…when people had the worst day of heir lives and had no one to bitch to when it was finally finished.

Greg was the comical reason why Catherine chose not to eat with the cheerleaders. Nick was the "dependable and charming without over stepping boundaries" reason. Warrick was the "ex-boyfriend that still acted kindly toward her" reason. And Sara was the "light at the end of the depressingly dark tunnel adolescence automatically formed through puberty" reason.

It was clear to anyone that Sara, Greg, Warrick, and Nick were her family. Being with them formed a home that she vowed to herself she would never be self-evicted from or even generally evicted from for that matter.

"I love you guys," Catherine blurted as she thought about all the situations she was getting into, the hole she was digging for herself with every comment toward the squad, with every missed night at the club, with the creep that continued to be creepy, and with Sam and therefore her mother with every lie she told.

"We love you too," Warrick smiled. "Should we show that through a group hug or are we too cool for that?"

"Only losers don't group hug," Catherine said with a smile.

They all laughed and bunched together in a friendly embrace, love in their hearts, laughter filling their ears, and dorky-ness consuming them since the day they met.

"I've got an idea! Since most of this group is graduating this year, we should etch our initials into the bark of this tree," Sara suggested with a smile as they all broke from the hug.

"Yeah," Greg squeaked with excitement.

Again the group laughed, minus Greg though since he was the source of the laughter.

"Let's just do it and stop making fun of me," Greg jutted back into his protective shell.

"Aw, sorry to hurt your feelings, Greggo," Catherine permitted her maternal instincts to take over her voice and actions as she rubbed Greg's back.

"Greggo. I like that nickname," Sara smiled.

Greg then smiled too and nodded in agreement. Nick and Warrick gave the "cool guy" half nod as they inched in closer to the bark of the tree along with the group.

"Who's got something sharp," Catherine asked as they all practically pressed their faces to the tree trunk.

Sara pulled out a screwdriver from one of her back pockets. "Here."

Catherine looked back as she was on all fours and cocked an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

"What? I don't cut myself or shank anybody," she defended herself. She then lowered her voice and mumbled, "As far as you know."

Catherine nearly gave herself whiplash when she looked back at Sara with anger and worry.

"I'm kidding. It was a joke. Ease up, _Love Muffin_."

"Shut up," Catherine playfully smacked Sara's arm.

"She likes it rough," Sara announced to the guys.

They laughed and Warrick tried to force a laugh that Sara obviously wasn't buying. Something was up and one way or another, she was going to figure out Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome.

--

"Let's go Cougars! Fight, fight, fight," the cheerleaders chanted through the gymnasium as they did some rigid arm movements with their pom-poms above their heads.

Jess went ahead and kicked one leg high, living up to the saying "heels over head". She gave a yell for good spirit and kept her smile as though someone injected her with botox in the middle of a happy moment. Catherine went with jumping into the air and splitting her legs when she hit the top of her jump.

The male population of the school hooted and hollered for the girls as they got into formation for their new dance routine. Each pep rally for the football team required the squad to choreograph a new routine to keep their audience's interest.

Sara bit her lip in anticipation for Catherine to dance because she knew it would be more entertaining than a good book. She would even good so far as to say it was more than just dancing as well. When Catherine sashayed, swayed, flicked her wrists, looked at her audience, smiled, moved her well-toned legs to the beat, it served as heaven that the single-minded guys in the school could never comprehend.

Catherine picked her lover out of the crowd and winked, her pom-poms not needed as a prop. It was her and only her on the gym floor to Sara.

Within a few seconds, the music blasted through the speakers and the bass jolted the floor like a seizure may jolt a person. The team jumped into their dance and Catherine appeared the most passionate of the bunch, but everyone already knew that about her. Dancing was her life's passion when it came to expressing herself and showing a freer side of her. But at that moment, that performance she put on in front of most of, if not all, her peers, she danced for Sara. She would only dance for Sara, no matter who gawked, who paid, who cheered. Sara received the only compassion, the only right to fully enjoy the show.

Halfway through Sara's enjoyment though, the lights cut and everyone was forced into the dark by all means of the word.

It didn't take long for the message to become apparently clear to Sara or Catherine though as a thick, chilling breath hit Sara's neck and earlobe. She shivered and nearly broke down crying as obviously male fingers ever so lightly roamed from her hair down around the shell of her ear and finally back down at the man's side. She relaxed her eyes shut half in prayer half to hold back tears and she gulped. The touch felt eerily familiar and disturbing as well as disgusting.

Suddenly, Sara felt something tap her thigh and give the area extra warmth. Any object of some sort. But the object held odd shape as she mostly felt two points on her thigh and the weight was almost seamless. Then, the stalker vanished and Sara felt safe enough to open her eyes. When she did, her ducts possessed fresh tears in wait to finally tumble down her face.

The lights shot back on.

All attending the pep rally looked around in confusion before the Assistant Principal grabbed a microphone and made an announcement regarding the power problem. Though it fell on two pairs of deaf ears as Catherine and Sara locked eyes.

Catherine held a yellow rose in her right hand and tears stained her cheeks. Sara gently gasped at the sight and a single tear dropped from a blinking eye. She then decided to look down at her lap and noticed the object felt on her thigh turned out to be a blood red rose.

"I think it's best we end this rally short, so cheerleaders…feel free to go and change," the assistant principal said through the beaten microphone with a detailed past.

The squad scurried off to their locker room, including Catherine and Sara made damn sure she waited close to the doors when Catherine emerged.

A minute later, Catherine rushed out of the locker room with her bag and the rose in her hand. Sara and her both paused and looked into each other's eyes for a beat before they embraced.

"He was here," Catherine said into the crook of Sara's neck.

"I know. We have to tell Sam," Sara rubbed her girlfriend's back.

"He told me I should be scared and that he loves you, hence the red rose, but he loves you so much he's about to do something stupid and that's why he gave me the rose he gave me," Catherine wanted to hold back her sobs, but it was no use as the shock took its toll.

"Let's go home," Sara made sure her voice didn't waver, which was exceptionally difficult at the information Catherine had given her. "And when we get home, I'll give you a massage or something. How does that sound?"

"Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"What does the yellow rose mean?"

Sara hesitated and swayed the two of them back and forth a bit.

"It symbolizes something, doesn't it," Catherine asked, terrified.

"Yeah…it does," Sara chocked back her own sobs.

"Then what does it mean?"

Sara took a deep breath and closed her eyes then re-opened them before she answered, "Death."

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**_Thanks for reading and I apologize for not getting this out sooner. As I've said before, I'm working on a novel with my cousin and on top of school, it's a little hectic. Oh, not to mention, I have a novel I'm writing solo so...yeah, that should explain my tendancy to not update as soon as I think as should. :) Forgive me? Tell me in a review! :D_**


	14. Chapter 14

**_Yay! I finally managed to sit down and write this chapter! :) Enjoy!_**

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Catherine curled into Sara's side under her fluffy comforter. Even with locked doors, low lights and closed curtains covering all the windows, Catherine didn't feel safe in her own home. Sara was tense with the same insecurity mixed with concern for her darling girlfriend.

"Who is this creep," Catherine shivered against Sara.

"I want to know as much as you. I promise I'm going to do something so vile to this sick freak when we find him," Sara spoke through gritted teeth.

"Don't. I don't want him coming after you. You mean everything to me and I'm not letting you go."

Sara smiled and leaned in to give Catherine a tender kiss on the forehead. She rubbed her girlfriend's arm when a thought popped into her her head.

"Since these might to our last moments together, we should have sex. Really good sex."

"What," Catherine laughed as she craned her neck upward to look into Sara's lustfully festive eyes.

"Something to remember you by," she grinned in response.

"Shut up," Catherine playfully slapped Sara's arm and giggled.

"I love the way you laugh," Sara sweetly smiled.

"I love the way you have with everything," Catherine returned the smile.

"Ravage me," Sara innocently asked as she walked two fingers up Catherine's shoulder blade to the top of her shoulder.

Catherine turned her head a bit to see the action and when she looked back into Sara's eyes, she charged her lips toward Sara's and gave them a rapid lick before they settled against each other, fused in a kiss.

Sara and Catherine moaned.

Sooner than either wanted, they needed air and broke apart panting. Sara sized her up as she gulped and attempted to catch her breath. Sara licked her lips and rushed her hand in her girlfriend's pants.

"Oh," Catherine maned as she felt hot liquid expel all over Sara's hand. "You're getting even better at this."

Sara grinned and tackled Catherine off the bed and onto the floor all while she re-convened their make out session. Catherine laughed with Sara straddling her waist before she voiced her thoughts.

"I'm pretty sure my back's going to be covered in bruises tomorrow."

"But they'll be worth it, won't they," she more stated than asked.

Catherine only smiled before she ran her hand along the edge of Sara's waistband. She bit her lip watching the brunette's aroused reaction.

Sara opened her eyes after a few seconds, leaned down and attacked Catherine's lips with her own. Unfortunately, Sara thought back to the pep rally and roses.

"Oh my God," she whispered as she stopped all contact.

"What," Catherine asked in confusion.

"I know who we're dealing with. Where's Sam?"

"Um...I don't know. With my mom? She's in her room."

Sara quickly licked hr fingers and threw herself the floor and onto her feet, leaving Catherine behind.

"Wait!"

Sara turned and perked up her ears.

"Who is it?"

Sara looked as though she was about to cry while she hesitated.

"My dad." Sara decided to sit on the ground and on her way down, Catherine came to a sitting position..

"Why would your dad go through all this trouble to torment us?"

"Because he sees me happy and that means he has no control over me. This is his way of beating me up when he can't physically land a hand on me."

Catherine reached out and rubbed Sara's arm.

"I still love you, you know," she smiled.

Sara snapped her head at Catherine. She smiled before putting on her almost stoic face again.

"He won't get away with this, Cat. I won't let him harm the one thing that means the world to me."

Catherine smiled back as she scooted closer to her girlfriend and kissed her collarbone.

"My world is all about you, Sara."

--

"Might as well give up now," he wickedly grinned. "Either way, you're not going to live long enough to graduate."

Catherine fought against her chain restraints and whimpered through fearful eyes and duct tape. The last thing she remembered was Sara being knocked unconscious when they cut through a park after their Saturday morning date. Sara was knocked out trying to keep Catherine out of her father's hands. Catherine knew Sara would never forgive herself if she was killed. So now, Catherine had two reasons to live. If she didn't survive, she would never see Sara again. If she didn't survive, Sara would fall apart.

"So...how do you want to be killed..._Catherine_?" He pulled out a knife and picked at his nails with the tip. "I could just stab you and get it over with...but then Sara might find that the best way for you to go considering your current predicament. Come to think of it, I a_m_ a little excited. Maybe I should just cut those jeans of yours off and have my fun... Now that sounds like a plan."

Catherine instinctively raised her knees to her chest as though it could protect her. It was evident she had been crying and it was evident Sara's father was crazy. Whatever confidence she once had in her chances for making out alive were now diminished, lost forever in his psychopathic behavior.

Sara blinked several times upon her return to consciousness and winced in pain as her head intensely pounded. She attempted to sit up, the entire process requiring her to put her hand to her head.

Once she was sitting, she removed her hand and felt warm liquid transfer from skull to skin. Blood.

She knew at this point she was lucky to even be awake, but at the sight of red, she remembered Catherine was in danger. There would be no one in the entire universe that could stop her. She was determined to save the love of her life.

"They should've been home by now, right," Sam asked Lily as he paced around the living room.

"They said they'd only be a couple of hours. Maybe they're just running late or there was traffic or something."

"I'm going to look for them. I knew it was a bad idea to let them go."

With grinding teeth, Sam snatched his keys and took off, leaving Lily sitting on the couch with fading hope.

He sipped his beer in a sickening manner, his tongue licking the overly moist rim of the bottle, his greasy hand all over the neck and body. It repulsed Catherine to the point of vomit caught in her throat. Somewhat thankfully, he stopped drinking and threw the nearly empty bottle at the wall. The glass smashed into several pieces upon impact and caused Catherine to jump.

He staggered closer to her with a wretched grin and licked his beer coated lips as he wiped one of his wet hands on his wrinkled black shirt. He ripped the duct tape off her lips for the entertainment her reaction would give him.

Catherine balled her hands into fists and crossed her legs at her ankles, her knees still at her chest. She braced herself for what she assumed he was going to do, but she made sure he would have to struggle before he got what he desired.

"Sara never appreciates the things I do for her," he bitterly started. "What does a father have to do to get the love he deserves?"

"Maybe you should have tried a less aggressive approach," she growled.

"Maybe," he lightened up with his expression as he violently yanked down his pants zipper and pompously avoided eye contact. "Or maybe she shouldn't have been such a brat!"

Now he was yelling. Catherine knew this man meant pain. She also knew his thoughts on a good father revolved around demented actions instead of proper affection. She would never resent Sam again.

"She doesn't want to be with us at home, with her _family_! She should suffer after all that we gave. It seems like the only thing precious to her...is you. But since she ran away, since she denies us our _right _to determine what she's privileged to have, I'm going to take it away from her...as a lesson. She can only be happy if I _say so_!"

Every word he barked made Catherine hate him even more. She didn't want to pity Sara for her parents' stupidity so instead she completely understood everything she did to give Sara a better home; apparently the only home she'd ever had. At first she did it because she knew it was the right thing to do, but as time passed, she also knew she cared. She cared to the point where she realized it was love and she hoped the man in front of her wouldn't ruin that.

Sara ran, to the best of her abilities, to the only place she knew where to find her father. She never wanted to go back there and she swore she never would, but Catherine's life hung in the balance. Her love for Catherine was her motivation and what a motivation it was.

She pushed herself farther than her throbbing headache would originally allow as she whipped past the park trees that separated her new life with Catherine and her own personal Hell by birth.

Once she was in the clear, open area, she could see the different blocks that made up her old neighborhood. She took a few steadying breaths and fought off her light headed-ness before she barreled down the hill and onto the street that would lead her to the self-destructive house that possibly held Catherine.

Sam had no idea whee he was going so he wanted to check every street in the city. He only got halfway through the city before he went to an underground place, somewhere only he and his wannabe mob friends knew about, in search for information.

"I need everything there is to know on Sara Sidle right now," he demanded.

One of his thug muscled men turned toward a series of file cabinets. He riffled through manila folders until he came across the last name 'idle'.

"I've got a Dennis Sidle and a Laura Sidle, nothing pertaining directly to a Sara."

"Dennis the husband of Laura?"

"Yeah."

"Hand it over," he waved his hand toward himself to gesture his command.

He scanned the papers the second he ripped them out of his man's hands and stopped at the police records.

"At least three neighbors complained of domestic deputes within a single month... Throw me the wife's file."

His "friend" did as he was told and gave the file to Sam in which Sam looked straight for the hospital records.

"Multiple bruises on her face and arms, head trauma, strangulation marks... This woman went thorough hell and back. Seems like it's been this way for the past eighteen years."

Sam connected the dots.

"Thanks, Dan," he grimly said before he jolted out of the place.

He stumbled on top of Catherine and blew heavy air onto her neck before showering her with kisses as a follow up action to said breathing. Catherine squirmed under him and squeezed her eyes shut. She clenched and unclenched her fists as his rough, distasteful lips made a trail down her sternum.

She wouldn't beg, wouldn't grovel, because he would know what he was doing served his purpose and more. She only wanted Sara to touch her that intimately, only Sara to kiss her with a passion, only Sara for the rest of her life.

She'll find a way, Catherine thought.

Sara kicked down the door and searched the space she was open to: the living room and kitchen as well as the hallway leading to her room. By the look f things, her mom and brother left the house to run a ridiculous and unimportant errand. He was here. She was sure of it.

She bolted for the basement door around the kitchen corner. That's where he had privacy. He never took her down there though. He preferred an intimate setting for her and her mother. Catherine was a stranger. He wasn't sure how she'd react so Sara figured the basement would be the best place to take her.

Sara slowly pulled open the door leading to one of the worst parts of the house. She stared down the stairs of pure evil and warily crept into the pit of flames she'd been burned by many times before.

"Say her name" she heard him command in his snake like tone. She cringed and allowed her teeth to grind, her fist strongly clamped around the railing.

Catherine grunted in an attempt to fight him off, but he was too strong, too insistent for her.

"Say her name!" He then chomped down on the skin covering her ribs after having lifted her shirt.

"Sara!"

Her scream hit Sara's ears immediately as she came into view, but his back was to the staircase so only Catherine, if her eyes hadn't been tightly shut, could've seen her.

Sara didn't care if her father saw her though, all she focused on was Catherine's scream. It had sent chills down her spine and definitely not in a good way. That was her breaking point. Who cared about how noisy those rickety stairs were? She was going for it.

Sara plundered down the remaining stairs and found the first thing useful as far as weaponry went. That first thing happened to be the bat she'd used against him when she first ran away.

She wrapped her fingers around the grip and choked up. She was going for the kill.

Before he had any more time to violate her girlfriend, Sara lunged at him and swung away. She hit him square in the spine and sent him flying onto all fours with a contorted face. Of course, he fell on Catherine and Sara wasn't having any of it. She yanked on his shirt and threw him down onto his back against the concrete floor.

At that point, she figured she had time to try and free Catherine so she searched the room for anything that would break through metal. Her eyes caught the beautiful sight of a large tool that appeared perfect enough for the job on top of the washer. She jumped at the opportunity and dashed to over to it and back. By the time she had reached Catherine though, her dad started to get to his feet.

Sara choked up again and aimed for his ribs. He had only managed a hunched position in trying to stand when Sara struck him again.

He grunted and collapsed.

For a moment, Sara dropped the bat and attended to her partner. With the tool, she broke the lock on the chains and freed Catherine.

"Get out of here," she instructed Catherine.

The redhead hardly had enough time to react before Sara shoved her toward the stairs and around her struggling father.

"Go!"

Catherine stared with concern at Sara in fear it was the last time she would ever be able to gaze into those magnificent brow eyes of truth, love and determination.

Without a second though, Catherine fled as she was told in enough time to get halfway up the stairs before she heard Sara grunt and stumble. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she briefly looked back to see what had happened and forced herself to think of a way to help Sara. When she reached the kitchen and saw her answer.

"Sam," she sighed in relief. "Sara's down there! He tried to rape me."

"Come on, we're getting out of her," he said in a voice of fraying authority as he tugged at her wrist.

"No! She saved me! He's going to kill her if we don't help her," she begged with her eyes.

That's when Sam saw it. Love. Catherine was in love with Sara and now Sara was in trouble. She was counting on him, her father, to protect the person she loved.

Sam sighed and pulled out his .38 caliber as he lightly pushed Catherine aside and headed toward the basement.

"Any last words," he asked with a menacing look in his eyes and a devilish grin threatening to spread across his crooked face.

Sara was coughing up blood while she had herself propped up on her forearms. She barely hung onto consciousness as her father towered over her with the bat extended behind his back. He planned on exerting as much force as he could onto the bat and make harsh, fatal contact with Sara's head.

She tried with all her might to make one final move against him, but for her effort she fell flat onto her back mere seconds before he threw down the bat and a gun shot rang out.

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**_I know, technically it's a cliff hanger, but I promise this isn't the last of this story. :D Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review. ;)_**


	15. Chapter 15

**_Yay! New chapter! :D I hope you like it._**

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Catherine jumped out of her skin when she heard the unmistakable bang of the bullet. In a state of shock, she rubbed her arms as if to get warm and bit deep into her bottom lip out of concern.

Through heavy lids and blurred vision, Sara saw her father stumble onto her and one of his arms landed across her torso. She groaned and slowly blinked a couple of times as she listened to calming footsteps across the concrete head in her direction. She could barely breathe, she was barely conscious, at this point. She felt her life slipping away, but she knew it was worth it.

"Sara," she almost didn't hear his crisp, low voice.

She tried with all her might to push her father off of her and was successful considering all the trauma she'd suffered.

Sam lowered himself to get closer to the bloody, almost limp, bruise covered Sara his daughter adored. He looked over her relaxed yet badgered body and ran his fingertips over her matted hair.

With a collective sigh, Sam got into position and scooped Sara into his arms.

"You're going to be okay," he whispered as he carried her up the stairs.

Once he reached the basement door, he calmly instructed Catherine.

"Call for an ambulance! I'll set her down on the couch."

She ran a hand through her hair and smiled when she saw Sara blink. She didn't have the time to hug or hold Sara so she pounced on the phone and dialed.

After she exchanged the information to dispatch, she hung up and walked into the living room.

"Is she okay?"

Sam looked up from Sara's pale face and stared into Catherine's eyes.

"She will be the sooner that ambulance arrives."

He studied her features as she knelt in front of the couch and took Sara's hand in her own.

"How come I never knew?"

Catherine whipped around and stated at him like a child who wrote in permanent marker all over the walls.

"What?"

"You love her, don't you? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because she's the only one that needs to hear it. Look, I know your my dad and I know I can be a pain, but...it's not like we tried to hide it. Mom doesn't even know yet though, so you can stop thinking you're the only one out of the loop."

Sam hesitantly nodded while he soaked it all in.

Is she anything like her father?"

"She's been staying with us because she ran away from him."

Sam looked indifferent so she rephrased her answer.

"She's never touched me in a way I haven't reciprocated."

Sam set his jaw and clenched.

"All right. She plans on staying with yo you and your mother?"

"And you...whenever you decided to stop by."

Sirens began to crescendo from around the corner.

Catherine took the time before the EMT's hauled her to the hospital to bring her lips to Sara's forehead.

"You were so brave," she whispered before she gave Sara's forehead another kiss. "But don't ever scare me like that again."

Sara managed a small smile.

"I love you," she croaked out.

Catherine beamed and silently giggled.

"I love you too," she chastely kissed Sara's chapped lips and ran her hand through damaged brunette locks.

The door flew open and three EMT's swarmed the couch, which caused them to shove Catherine away from Sara and into her father's arms.

"There's a man downstairs, but I'm sure he's dead," Sam said to anyone that would listen,.

Automatically, two more EMT's arrived and immediately took off toward the basement after Sam's helpful information.

Catherine, with Sam's arms wrapped around her, rested her hands on his forearms as they watched Sara being rolled out to the emergency vehicle on a gurney and loaded into the back.

"Sam, I want to go with her," she said through shocked, sorrowful eyes.

Sam paused a beat.

"Go. I'll tell your mother and we'll meet you there."  
Catherine smiled before she abruptly broke trough her father's embrace and charged toward the ambulance.

"I'm coming with you," she yelled at one of the people that helped get Sara inside.

They made what little room they could and Catherine snuggled into the space as she held Sara's hand again. She never let go the entire ride.

--

Sara opened her eyes to see a blurred version of her girlfriend at her bedside.

Catherine smiled and tightened her grip on Sara's hand to assure the brunette she was there and still holding on to their future.

"Hi, my little sleeper," she smiled down at Sara.

"Honey, you're home...sort of," Sara joked.

"Whenever I'm with you, I'm home."

They shared a smile.

"The doctor said you should be able to go home at the end of the week."

Sara groaned and rolled her eyes.

"That's a week too long. I want to go home tonight."

"I know, baby, but you're all kinds of bruised. Mainly, it's your head they're concerned about."

"Isn't there a way for you guys to take me home and give me pain killers?"

"Trust me, there's nothing I'd rather do than take care of you all week, but my mom thinks it's a bad idea and the doctor thinks it's a bad idea. I've tried all the resources and it's just not gonna happen."

"Catherine," Sara tightened her grip on Catherine's hand. "I _hate _hospitals. I hate this one with a passionate, more so than other hospitals in the area."

Catherine furrowed her brow.

"When my mom and brother find out about my dad, there's no way I''m gonna be able to protect myself. Here, I'm a sitting duck, but at your place I can feel confident they won't find me."

"Is this the hospital they always take you to?"

Sara nodded.

Catherine sighed.

"Maybe I can ask Sam to stay with us for a while and...convince my mom that it'd be okay for me to watch you."

"You wouldn't have to miss school. I'll be fine during the day. Maybe put a T.V. In your room and make sure I have plenty of snacks for the day before you head out."

"Why on earth would you need a T.V. in there," Catherine laughed.

"To watch the educational channels, duh."

They shared yet another laugh and Catherine leaned in to kiss Sara's forehead.

"I'll be right back," Catherine smiled before she turned on her heel and left.

She strolled down the hall and saw Sam and her mother uncomfortably waiting.

"She doesn't feel safe here," she informed the two.

"What do you mean," Sam asked as he stood.

"She's worried that her mom and brother might track her down. I want her to come home."

After at least twenty minutes of conversation, the family came compromise and that lead Catherine to squeeze the life out of her mother and Sam expressed through a bear hug. She scrambled to Sara's room with excitement and burst in with what appeared a permanent smile plastered across her face.

What's up," Sara asked, bewildered by the happiness within her girlfriend.

"I can stay at home with you for the first three days of the week, when your most vulnerable, and then you should be able to walk around and be slightly dependent on yourself. So...hello, roomie, you've got me for the next four days because starting tomorrow, I'm fee to nurse you back to health."

Sara smiled.

"I hope that nursing me back to health involves slutty, revealing costumes that give me the perfect view of everything wonderful about you."

Catherine gasped. "My body is all that you like about me?"

Sara stared to laugh after Catherine said "body".

"I'm teasing. If I only enjoyed your body, I wouldn't have take you out today."

Catherine smiled.

"Not to mention, I also probably wouldn't have saved your life."

Catherine lightly laughed.

"Maybe we can have a date that ends with a kiss instead of one that ends with you laying in a hospital bed."

Sara nodded.

"It'll have to wait until I can stand without becoming severely dizzy."

"Fine by me. I don't want an incapacitated date. What would people think?"

Sara laughed.

"So someone's gonna sign me out?"

"My mom already is."

--

Sara stared at the two round pills on the night stand that sat beside the glass of water she was supposed to take with them.

"They're helpful," Catherine said as she looked from Sara to the pills to Sara once again.

"Huh? Oh, no, I was just thinking."

She rolled partially onto her side and swiped the medication. Catherine swiftly assisted when she picked up the glass and handed it to her partner once the pain killers were in her mouth.

Sara tipped back the glass and swallowed. She didn't need to take anymore for the next two hours.

"Do you want me to start dressing up now," Catherine grinned.

"I like it when you're in your cheerleading uniform," Sara mimicked Catherine's grin, the only difference was in the fiery eyes Sara had compared to the soft, playful eyes that belonged to Catherine.

That works out nicely because I need to practice our routine for competition in three weeks."

Sara smiled.

"I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, you just want to see me a high kick so you'll have a real good view up my skirt."

Sara cackled like an evil genius before Catherine jokingly slapped her arm and planted a chaste kiss on her lover's lips.

She spun on her heel and lazily strutted toward her chest. She opened the door and pulled out the hanger that supported her uniform. She slipped the clothing off and tossed the hanger aside.

She threw off her casual outfit and jumped into the skirt and short sleeved shirt. She looked over at Sara who's face appeared pale while she stared at her personal form of stimulation. Catherine laughed.

She walked over to the side of the bed and leaned in for a kiss. She smiled when her lips made contact with Sara's and brushed her fingers down her arm. She then backed away and her her place in the center of the room where there was enough space to dance.

Catherine started when she placed a hand on her right k, her head turned toward the right so her body mostly faced in one direction. She kept the beat in her head, shimmied before she dipped low and popped back up. Her dance consisted of moves similar to those and lasted for a good two minutes. She paused, though, wen in the played out routine the cheerleaders wouldn't be on the floor.

"You're a flyer, right? That's what they call them?"

Catherine nodded.

"Those girls are so incredibly lucky to have all these opportunities to lift you."

"No, you're so incredibly lucky because you can see me for who I am, you get to live with me, share a bed with me... Plus, you get to see me naked."

Sara smiled, coiled her fingers around Catherine's wrist and pulled her close.

"I wish we could dance," Sara confessed.

Catherine smiled and straddled her.

"But we can...for the most part."

"How? I probably won't be able to handle any type of 'dance' we'll do."

"But you're not thinking of 'dancing',you're thinking of 'coagulating'," she grinned before she chastely kissed Sara's lips.

Sara smiled.

"Ah, you actually learned something in science," she teased.

"And it's all thanks to my really great tutor," she grinned before she planted another chaste kiss upon Sara's lips.

Sara moaned and, with her eyes closed, raised her brows in a slight state of wonder.

"I get it. 'Dancing' in this case is equivalent to making out."

"Uh huh," Catherine held her grin before she bit her bottom lip, released it and came down on Sara to kiss her breast bone.

"All you have to do is relax and enjoy the song."

Sara smiled and only had a few seconds to relish in the moment before Catherine gave her more moments to get excited about.

Their lips were fused, their tongues sustained minimal bruises over a battle neither of them officially conquered, and their hands believed in no boundaries.

After an hour of building lust, they broke apart for good and as breathless as she was, Catherine started to talk.

"Mm, I can't believe I'm gonna graduate soon."

"Yeah, you're leaving me in a few _months_! The only reason why that means anything positive for me is because I get to see you leave happy. You're going to start a real future and get a career... But where does that leave me?"

Catherine sighed.

"There are still so many things we need to figure out."

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**_Okay, so I'm not sure how your feelings on Sam (show wise) are, but I wanted to make him an understanding guy. A guy doing things for his daughter as his motivation. (HINT for later chapters) Things might make more sense if you keep reading. ;) _**

**_So, with that in mind I say the only way you can keep reading is to send me a review. :) _**


	16. Chapter 16

**_Sorry this took so long. Lots of things are going on so...hopefully you'll stick with me and of course, enjoy this chapter. :D_**

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After the grueling week the brunette spent in bed, it felt great to be going someplace, especially school. She was pumped and ready for the day so naturally, she already had everything figured out.

"Sara, where's my purse," Catherine asked as she fixed herself toast.

"On the end table by the stairs," she nonchalantly answered as he grabbed orange juice from the fridge.

Catherine bounced out of the kitchen and headed toward the end table. Halfway there, she saw her purse and smiled.

"Thanks, honey," she said when she re-entered the kitchen. She went directly toward her girlfriend and kissed her.

"I enjoy the kisses that express your gratitude, but we still haven't talked about-"

"I know and we will. After school."

"Cat, you've been playing hooky from the club all week. Don't you have to go to work?"

"Yeah, but that'll be after we talk."

Catherine attempted to slip away, but Sara wouldn't let it go.

You have cheer after school."

"Uh huh. We'll talk after that."

"But you've got homework. You've always got homework. So do I."

"Right, but that won't take all night, will it?"

"Catherine," Sara warningly called after her.

"What," she innocently asked as she grabbed her backpack of the floor.

"We have to talk," Sara insisted.

"And we will."

"When?"

"Whenever we get to it. Now let's go. We don't want to late, do we?"

Sara sighed and tolled her eyes. She grabbed the water bottle she managed to fill with orange juice during their discussion and swiped her own backpack off the floor.

--

The gang sat together under the tree, the first time in a long time, and smiled in each other's company. Sara remained silent though as she plunged her mind into a book. Catherine took the patch of grass next to her and studied Sara's relaxed features. She knitted her brows and noted that even though her partner appeared at ease, she still sat rigid, as if to say she wanted to protect herself. Her guard rose over time, but Catherine couldn't remember when it started or why it didn't stop.

Before she could even bother to ask, a young, brown haired, blue eyed man with a visitor's pass sauntered toward the group with a smile.

"Sara," he merrily called.

The brunette looked up and met his gaze. She cracked a wide smile, dropped her book and ran over to him.

"Hey...Gil!"

They embraced each other in a firm, friendly hug, which caused jealousy to surge through Catherine. The college sophomore before her had his arms wrapped around Sara, who of course enjoyed it, and that was a huge no-no in the redhead's eyes.

_He just wants Jesse's girl, _Catherine thought. _In this case, I'm stuck being Jesse and he might actually get to her. _

"What are you doing here," she laughed as she pulled away from him.

"I thought I'd check on you. I sent you a new Forensics Journal that I got my hands on recently and you didn't send anything back. I got worried."

"Aw, that's so sweet," she laughed a little. "Well, uh, the reason I didn't send a thank you note this time was because...I didn't get the journal."

"What? Maybe I should talk to some-"

"No, no, no, I didn't get it because I've been living with Catherine," she hitched her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the group.

"What happened to your place?"

"There's so much to tell you," she slowly spoke with a hint of laughter at his expense of unawareness.

He raised a curious brow and Sara laughed.

"How long are you sticking around," she asked.

"On campus, until lunch is over. In town, for the weekend."

"We should hang out then."

"That's what I hoped for," he smiled.

Sara smiled before she briefly looked down at the grass. When she looked into his eyes again, she started to talk about the gang.

"Well, you know Catherine. And I'm pretty sure you know Nick and Warrick...thanks to her of course. But...I don't think you've met Greg. He's a freshman."

"No, I don't believe I have," he smiled. They walked under the tree and Grissom and Greg got acquainted.

"You got a baseball game coming up," Grissom asked after several minutes of conversation.

"I wouldn't know, man," Nick laughed.

"I think they have some Red Robin thing this weekend," Warrick mentioned. "Nick isn't exactly 'in the know'."

Laughter rang out between all of them except for Nick.

"Right, yeah, pick on Nick day. That's today. Got it," Nick sarcastically stated.

"Relax, Nicky," Catherine said through her disappating laughter.

"Sorry, you guys keep changing the day on me," he went on with his sarcasm. "Last week it was a Thursday."

Grissom smiled.

The bell rang and the six of them frowned.

"Great. Time to go to Geography," Greg groaned.

"Ah, the good old days," Grissom chuckled.

Sara stood and held out her hand for Catherine. Catherine smiled at the nicety of Sara's offer and took her hand. Sara pulled her girlfriend to her feet. She then turned her attention to Grissom and smiled.

"We'll catch you later."

He shared her smile and nodded.

"Of course."

When the gang split, Sara and Catherine headed to Physics together, but they didn't seem together. Though they walked side by side, the tense air further separated them as they emotionally drifted from each other.

"Sara, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem cold with me...but then Grissom shows up and you suddenly grow a heart. The second he disappears and it's only us, you get distant again."

"It's not like that and you know it," she attempted to defend herself.

"Oh really? Because that's what it looked like to me."

"Fine, okay, I like having him around. Is that a crime?"

Catherine puffed out a sigh.

"No, but when you treat me like the bad guy, it hurts. If our relationship lasts while I'm in college, I have to know that you're not going to add to the stress of my studies."

"Add to your stress?!" Sara hastily threw herself further away from Catherine. "Maybe this 'relationship' shouldn't last at all!"

"Sara, that's not-"

"No, I don't want to hear it! Tonight, I'm sleeping on the couch."

Sara rushed to class without Catherine and took a deep breath when she collapsed into seat.

Catherine stopped dead in her tracks after Sara fled. It crushed her heart to cry, but she knew if she did, she might not stop.

She swallowed her pain and took a deep breath before she pushed on toward class.

--

At the end of the day, Sara willed herself into Catherine's car. She wouldn't, couldn't, go back to her old family, but at that point she couldn't stand her new one. Catherine didn't want to talk about their post graduation plan and that was the most important thing to Sara. It determined whether life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were more than famous words in history.

She loved Catherine more than she loved science and science used to be the only thing that kept her whole and sane. But Catherine avoided the future, _their _future, and it made Sara question whether or not the redhead meant the three, life altering words "I love you" whenever she uttered them.

In the car, Catherine sighed and hesitated to start the car. She turned to Sara while the keys rested in the ignition.

"Do you want to talk about it now?"

"It's a major conversation, Catherine! We can't talk about in the car. It's going to take time and planning. I can't believe you just suggested that!"

"Sorry, I thought the issue was me not wanting to talk," Catherine snapped back a bit.

"It is, but you can't make this better by rushing this talk we _need _to have! Listen, I don't want to argue. Let's get home and I'll wait until you're _truly_ ready to talk."

The tension built between them and Catherine finally turned over the engine.

Catherine slammed the door shut as Sara headed up the stairs. Beyond frustration, Catherine blew her hair out of her face.

Sam walked out of the kitchen with Lily in tow.

"Mugs, what's going on? Why did you slam the door?"

"I hate my life," she simply stated and huffed off to her room.

"What was that about,"Sam turned and asked Lily.

"Oh, Sam, it's a woman thing," she calmly said as she patted the front of his shoulder and maneuvered around her boyfriend.

She followed Catherine's lead and briskly made her way up to the room. She softly knocked on the closed door with her knuckles.

"Girls, can I come in?"

"Yeah", "Sure," they simultaneously answered.

Lily cautiously opened the door and stepped inside. Sara and her daughter sounded bitter.

"Hey, is everything all right with the two of you?"

No reply.

Sara only popped open one of her textbooks and flipped to find what she needed to work on for the night. Catherine pulled out her ponytail holders from cheerleading practice and freed her hair. She sat in front of the vanity and straightened her locks with her fingers.

"Something's going on and it's clearly bothering you two. I'm sure whatever it is, you can talk it out."

Sara scoffed.

"Not when talking is the problem."

"Oh, come off it, Sara! We can talk about it now if you want," Catherine yelled after she whipped around to look at Sara with fiery eyes.

"Oh," Lily blankly said. "I see. This is about communication."

Sara broke out of her shell and blurted the situation.

"She doesn't want to talk about what happens after she graduates."

"Well, that's big."

"I never said I didn't want to talk about it. I said I had other things to do."

"That's the same as saying it doesn't matter what happens!"

"Oh, Catherine. Nothing should be more important than discussing your future together."

"What," Catherine nearly screamed as she snapped around to look at her mother. "How do you know about us, a-about our relationship?"

"Sam told me," Lily somewhat regretfully replied.

Catherine scoffed and threw her hand in the air.

"Of course he did. He violated my trust! I can't believe I thought he'd keep his mouth shut!"

"Don't blame him, Catherine. At least he's open with me! Are you being completely open with Sara?"

"You know what? I'm not gonna sit her and listen to this psychobabble! I actually have places to be and better things to do."

She threw her hair ties down on the vanity and violently pushed off the stool she sat in before she snatched her work bag and stormed out of the room.

Sara frowned and curled into her defensive position, knees to chest. Lily looked her over and furrowed her brow in an attempt to understand the brunette and her actions.

--

The music blasted over the ambient clinks and clatter of mugs and glasses. Catherine prepared herself backstage for her show. When she first plopped into her chair at her station, she wanted to dance for all the men in the crowd in spite of Sara, but as she slowly applied her lipstick, she looked at herself with morose malice.

She reached out with her lipstick and pressed it against the mirror. She slid the make up across the reflective surface until she completely spelled "Pathetic". She stared into the mirror with the word a bit out of focus and saw it written across her face. She took a deep breath and relaxed her eyes shut. But all too quickly, the relaxed sensation ended and someone pulled her by the hair into the darkness of the dressing room.

She tried to scream, but a masculine hand covered her mouth as the two of them slipped further and further away from reality. She fought her way down to the ground after suffering a harsh blow to the back of the head and a second to the face. The dark figure, unrecognizable, stood over her and stared at her while she pressed a trembling hand against her cheek.

"So you're the reason Sara left us," he grimly asked.

Catherine's breathing quickened and she thought to crawl away, but he saw right through that.

"You even think of running and I'll slit your throat where you lay before dragging your bloody corpse back to your house for your mom and your precious Sara to see."

"Who are you," she tried to hold back tears.

"That's for Sara to know and you to not care to know."

He brought a closed fist in a downward left hook and snapped her head to her right. She collapsed onto the cold, concrete floor and fell into a state of unconsciousness.

--

Sara occupied the couch as intended thinking Catherine would be home soon. Her shift was supposed to end a little over an hour before and the brunette started to worry. That worry gave her an excuse to tell herself that's why she waited up to see her girlfriend walk through the door. Truthfully, she waited because she couldn't sleep without the knowledge Catherine didn't have any scrapes, cuts, or bruises. She cared about Catherine in a way she never thought people could care and their fight tore her up inside. In her mind, the fight only served as more proof that no matter how much you love a person, the world's dynamics are too screwed up for anything to be sentimental and endearing.

The phone rang and startled Sara. She tossed the covers aside and stood to answer the phone before it woke up Catherine's parents. The phone stopped ringing the second she reached her hand out to pick it up. She heard a muffled voice answer upstairs and recognized the person as Lily.

She sighed. She couldn't even manage to keep Catherine's mom from waking up at two in the morning.

She trudged back toward the couch, but before she could even sit, she heard a thud. She listened to her fair share of thuds from all the physical fights in that God forsaken shack of a house she used to reside in, so she knew knew the phone had fallen to the floor.

"Sam! Sam," Lily cried.

A shiver spiraled down Sara's spine. To hear Lily sound as panicked as she did, scared Sara pale. She inched away from the couch and toward the end of the staircase. She looked up at the door to Lily's room and waited for one or both of them to appear.

As predicted, Sam flew out of the room with a concern stricken face. Lily followed him out with tears in her eyes and clung onto his arm.

Once Sam reached the stairs, his eyes locked with Sara's and sighed in a way only Sam Braun would. She immediately understood the news involved Catherine.

"Where is she," Sara asked.

"Hospital," he boldly answered. Though his features remained rigid, his soft, fatherly side showed straight through to Sara. He couldn't hide behind his mobster armor when it came to family matters.

Sara nearly broke down and cried when he spoke the evil word.

Sam continued on and headed down the stairs with Lily behind him one hundred percent.

"Let's go. There's no time to fall apart now," he said as he draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her out to the car.

**

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**_Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it. I'm thinking of writing a sequel, but I need to figure some things out before I can officially decide. :)_**


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